Partners at Deloitte have seen payouts cut for the second year running, despite the Big Four firm reporting a rise in profits for the fourth consecutive year, with revenues increasing by 1.4% to £2.55bn

A shortage of audit work and HMRC’s campaigns to cut down on tax planning have accelerated the decline in the number of accountancy firms in the UK, according to analysis by finance provider LDF which also says funding remains an issue for smaller firms

Relevant work experience is viewed as more important than accounting qualifications for entry-level jobs in the accountancy world reveals a survey of leading accountancy firms and finance directors, who regularly hire first jobbers

Andrew Tate, Reeves restructuring partner, has been elected to take the reins as president of R3, the trade association for insolvency practitioners, in 2016. Tate has recently been elected as R3 deputy vice president and will become vice president in 2015. He has been a member of R3 for many years, and currently chairs the smaller practices group

This week sees the launch of a government campaign to promote apprenticeships as an alternative route into work, alongside the announcement of new standards for apprentices in the accountancy profession which have the backing of a broad range of firms and the professional institutes

Grant Thornton has hired Andrew Vials as the firm’s head of national assurance services (NAS) and he will lead a team of 35 people providing technical support and advice to all service lines

Big Four firm EY bolsters northwest tax team while DFK International confirms new president

The head of the UK accounting regulator, Sir Win Bischoff, is to become chairman of JP Morgan Securities in Europe while retaining his role at the Financial Reporting Council (FRC)

Insurance specialist Abbey Tax Protection has acquired Sheffield-based HowarthLynch, a leading provider of R&D tax consultancy services to SMEs, as part of a move to broaden the range of products it offers to accountants.

LLPs set up professional alliance, Carmichael Johnson invests £700k in Scottish offices and Gateley LLP reviews recent employment contract cases

In our monthly round-up of legal cases, Gateley LLP experts consider the right to invoke voting restrictions in JKX Oil & Gas and the Charterhouse ruling on drag along provisions