Business &amp; Accountancy Daily

Business | Called to account: December 2020

In this month’s scandals, convictions and penalties, accountant jailed over stealing from their employer, tobacco smuggler imprisoned for unpaid duty on two million cigarettes, and recycling director banned over failed tax payments

4 Dec 2020

Called to Account

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Business | UHY Hacker Young signals growth plan for Manchester team

As the government commits to a ‘levelling up’ agenda post-Covid, top 20 firm UHY Hacker Young has revealed ambitious expansion plans with a commitment to grow the audit team in its Manchester office by up to 20%

4 Dec 2020

Accountancy Firms

Careers

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Business | Only nine FTSE 100 boards have board gender equality

Five years after the government set a target for 33% female representation on the boards of all FTSE 350 companies, just nine of the UK’s top companies have an equal gender split

4 Dec 2020

Careers

Image for audit reform will fail without fundamental overhaul warns icaew

Finance | Audit reform will fail without fundamental overhaul, warns ICAEW

ICAEW has published a manifesto setting out its vision for the future of audit, saying the success of any changes to firm structure and regulation depends on a clearer understanding of the role and purpose of audit

4 Dec 2020

Image for people news knill james saffery champness govgrant

HR | People in the news: Knill James, Saffery Champness, GovGrant

In this week’s accountancy career moves, partner promotions at Knill James, chairman re-elected at Saffery Champness, senior tax manager at GovGrant, and directors named at Haysmacintyre

4 Dec 2020

Careers

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Business | Debt trap to fuel M&A and equity deals

Rising corporate debt must be tackled before it becomes a millstone, but uncertainty and limited refinancing options could lead a wave of distressed M&A or increased debt to equity swaps, warns Mayer Brown’s Trevor Borthwick

3 Dec 2020

Image for move make hmrc preferential creditor ill timed

Tax | Move to make HMRC preferential creditor ‘ill timed’

Accountancy firms are warning that the reintroduction of HMRC’s status as a preferential creditor at the beginning of this month could have a significant impact on businesses’ ability to obtain finance, and risks compromising the economy’s recovery from the current pandemic

3 Dec 2020

Business | Pandemic sees listed companies chop dividends

Since the start of this year, 493 companies listed on London Stock Exchange have cancelled, cut, or suspended dividend payments, with a 10.8% hike in the numbers doing so over the past four months suggesting this trend is set to continue

3 Dec 2020

Accountancy Firms

Image for cva menu natural fast food chain leon

Business | CVA on the menu at natural fast food chain Leon

Business advisory firm Quantuma has been appointed by Leon Restaurants Ltd to launch a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) as the high street fast-food chain reported a 70% drop in sales

3 Dec 2020

Restructuring & Insolvency

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Tax | OECD tax revenues fall for the first time in a decade

Tax revenues fell across the OECD for the first time in ten years during 2019, with a much larger decrease expected in as Covid-19 drives down economic activity and consumption tax take

3 Dec 2020

Finance | FRC builds case for audit committee standards

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) says research carried out with audit committee chairs (ACCs) indicates a need to develop standards for audit committees in order to ensure a more consistent approach to promoting audit quality

3 Dec 2020

Finance | FRC consults on property and plant exemption in FRS 101

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is consulting on minor amendments to FRS 101 Reduced Disclosure Framework as part of the 2020/21 review cycle to keep it in line with IFRS

2 Dec 2020

Business | Legal updates: December 2020

In this month’s round up, Gateley Legal’s Sophie Brookes examines whether Covid-19 had a ‘material adverse effect’ in Travelport, complexities over ‘no reflective loss’ principle, and updated Companies House guidance on People with Significant Control (PSC) regime

2 Dec 2020

Law & Guidance

Image for debenhams close 12000 jobs lost

Business | Debenhams to close with 12,000 jobs lost

Debenhams is to cease trading, with the loss of some 12,000 jobs, after administrators from FRP Advisory said all other options to save the 242-year-old retailer had been exhausted

2 Dec 2020

Restructuring & Insolvency

Image for wet pubs offered ps1000 covid grant

Business | ‘Wet’ pubs offered £1,000 Covid grant

There is to be an additional £1,000 grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3 who will miss out on business in the run up to Christmas because of the tighter restrictions on opening

2 Dec 2020

Tax | Tesco to pay back £585m Covid business rates relief

Tesco is to repay all of the £585m of business rates relief the company received in respect of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it was ‘absolutely committed to doing the right thing’

2 Dec 2020

Business | Four out of five businesses not Brexit-ready

With under a month to go until the UK leaves the EU, four out of five businesses do not know the full extent of Brexit risks and are not sufficiently prepared, according to a poll by EY

2 Dec 2020