The director of a company that installed disability ramps across South Wales has been disqualified for seven years for providing inaccurate information to HMRC regarding some £500,000 of under-declared VAT

Paul Dumbell, advisory director, and Howard Smith, associate partner, from KPMG’s restructuring practice have been appointed joint administrators to Funny Girls Ltd, the Blackpool-based burlesque cabaret showbar operator, which has collapsed putting around 100 jobs at risk

Finance Mole has to make the finance team take aptitude tests to satisfy the demands of private equity investors plus, Treasury’s sweet tooth, MP takes shot at audit regulator

Taylorcocks has merged with west Sussex-based Russell New in a move which the top 75 firm says is designed to significantly increase its expertise and consolidate its presence in the south east

The director of an Essex security company has been disqualified for eight years having failed to ensure the company maintained proper books and records, after an Insolvency Service investigation found it was not possible to verify over £600,000 of cash withdrawals from the business

The government’s poor understanding of the impact of individuals’ debt problems is costing taxpayers £248m a year, and there are weaknesses in the Treasury’s approach to tackling the issues, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report which is also critical of the government’s approach to debt collection

Lack of clarity around the Brexit process is hitting preparations for business after the UK leaves the EU, with only a third of finance professionals in large businesses reporting their organisation has started scenario planning and just 20% of those in small organisations, according to a poll

The domination of the Big Four has led to calls for the creation of a new competitor. David Grunberg, founding partner of Grunberg & Co, looks at the consortium approach of mid-tier firms to create a Big Five firm to increase audit competition 

Importers and exporters could consider acquiring Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) accreditation to allay Brexit chaos for British businesses, although the government has not been clear in the recent no-deal Brexit papers about how this would work in practice. David Miller, Customs & AEO consultant and co-founder of The Customs People explains the issues for accountants and businesses

Gaucho, the upmarket restaurant chain, is to be bought out of administration by the company’s lenders and banking groups, Investec Bank and SC Lowy, saving 750 employees and 16 UK sites

The government has signalled it is to go ahead with plans to support a pensions dashboard, bringing together information about all of an individual’s pension pots in one place

Scotland is to go ahead with plans for a Scottish National Investment Bank, as well as an additional £7bn investment in infrastructure and a campaign to support businesses looking to export overseas