Top 20 firm MHA Macintyre Hudson has completed a deal to merge its Kent offices with Percy Gore, a firm of chartered accountants based in Margate, in a bid to expand the firm’s presence in the region

Accountants are in the firing line for failing to watch their manners when on the phone to clients and other contacts, with a recent poll labelling the profession the fifth worst phone communicators in the UK, according to business telecommunications provider 4Com

The Treasury has ordered the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to conduct an independent investigation into events at London Capital & Finance (LC&F) and the circumstances surrounding the savings company’s collapse

The founder and former chief executive of a Silicon Valley startup has agreed to pay more than $17m (£13m) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges relating to investor fraud in Jumio, a private mobile payments company

Big Four challenger CogitalGroup has launched CoZone, a next generation digital workplace which will allow clients to access the full breadth of its services in one secure place, timed to coincide with the introduction of Making Tax Digital, HMRC’s move to digitise tax

Pretty Green, the fashion brand founded by former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, has been placed into administration, putting 180 jobs at risk

The biggest ever increase to National Living Wage (NLW) has come into effect this week, with 1.8m workers receiving an additional £690 over the year from 1 April

The  Big Four firms have revealed they are failing to charge some audit clients for the full cost of the auditing work they carry out, fuelling concerns that they may be using audit work as a ‘loss leader’ on key accounts, according to information provided to the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee which suggests there are cost overruns in as many as half of all engagements

Graham Bushby, partner, and Nick Edwards, director, of RSM Restructuring Advisory have been appointed joint administrators of insulin pump manufacturer Cellnovo Ltd, which has ceased trading putting up to 100 jobs at risk

A roundup of Brexit legislation, guidance and statutory instruments including no deal Brexit advice for auditors and accountants, HMRC and BEIS extend post Brexit guidance for SMEs, lost limited liability status and import duties to be slashed in the event of a no deal

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published technical advice on the minimum information content of documents describing a takeover, merger or division where a prospectus is not required

The challenges facing UK businesses in the next five years, including the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit, have heightened the need for employee resilience, according to research from recruitment specialist Robert Half UK