KPMG partners are in a generous mood these days. Keener readers will recall how UK chairman Mike Rake sent his E&Y counterpart Nick Land a bottle of champagne a few weeks ago to acknowledge the firm’s court victory over Equitable Life.

Now TS hears that another Puddle Dock senior partner is considering sending a Christmas gift to John Connolly, head of the UK’s number two firm Deloitte.

What happened to cut-throat competition among the Big Four, you might ask? KPMG (number 3 in our Top 50) might be full of bonhomie after posting 20% growth last week, but the champagne will not be leaving the building this time.

Our partner tells us he is on the look-out for a special kind of gift for Connolly, whose firm grew by ‘only 9%’ last year: ‘I’m considering sending him a set of rear-view mirrors.’