Data published to mark International Women’s Day reveals a mixed picture – while more women than ever before are on boards of the UK’s largest companies, the proportion of females on the senior rungs below the top level continues to lag behind their male counterparts

David Pike, Mark Orton and Will Wright from KPMG’s restructuring practice have been appointed joint administrators to agricultural retailer Countrywide Farmers, whose attempt to sell part of its business following trading difficulties was referred to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

An MP has described KPMG’s last set of accounts for failed outsourcer Carillion as ‘a work of fiction’, while a leading investment group and shareholder in the company has asked audit committees at two other companies audited by KPMG to confirm the quality of the firm’s work

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) has agreed a deal with US-based National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) to enable members to practice in the other nation’s jurisdiction

In the run up to its planned revision of the UK corporate governance code, one of the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC) senior executives has highlighted the importance of corporate culture, and the need to develop a way of reporting on a company’s values and behaviours

AMT Coffee, which has 53 outlets across the UK and republic of Ireland, including NHS hospitals and train stations, has become the first national coffee bar chain to secure fair tax certification, awarded by the Fair Tax Mark organisation

The chief executive of the Met Office has stepped down from his role with immediate effect, amid reports of concerns about governance at the public body, and will be replaced on a temporary basis by the chief financial officer (CFO)

The Treasury is to conduct an independent review into the prudential supervision of the Co-operative Bank between 2008 and 2013, more than four years after an investigation into oversight of the troubled lender was first promised

Begbies Traynor is paying £2.75m to acquire Springboard Corporate Finance Ltd, a mid-market corporate finance practice which specialises in buy and sell-side deals in the UK and overseas, with expertise in proprietary deal origination

This week marks National Apprenticeship Week, but with the number of new apprenticeship starts falling by a quarter last year, and calls for changes to the operation of the apprentice levy, there are questions about the ability to meet the government’s commitment to an extra three million apprentices by 2020

Following an urgent application by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Russell Downs, Douglas Nigel Rackham and Dan Yoram Schwarzmann of PwC have been appointed as joint administrators of BSL and joint special administrators of BACSL, after the regulator assessed that both stockbroking firms are insolvent

Closing the gender pay gap in the UK could boost women’s wages by £90bn per annum, increasing incomes on average by £6,300 per woman per year, according to research from PwC