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'Poodle Power' at AAT's new office
When TS is not encouraging PRs to pick up the lunch bill,
one finds oneself cooped-up in the dark interiors of TS Towers.
Anyway, above pic is obviously not an AAT poodle. You can see a real one (AAT poodle that is) on the left, click the pic to enlarge.
Darling's new recruit in to sort out Number 10, and Number 11
Alistair Darling has brought a cat to Number 11, it emerged last week, the first cat to roam around Downing Street since Humphrey left amid rumours that Cherie didn't like cats.
Colella's a jailhouse rocker
TS may not have been invited to January's ICAS Burns Night
supper yet we feel so sure it's an oversight that's about to be put right that
we've cleared the diary, got the family tartan down from the loft and stocked
up on Alka-Seltzer.
Colin attempts to 'outpimp' the AAT
Rake progresses through farewell tour
So farewell then, Sir Mike Rake (or should we say Auf Wiedersehen, after the KPMG Europe merger?).
Mike is leaving the profession to become chairman of BT and
at the end of the month after 35 (count 'em) years at KPMG.
Supperstone swaps BDO for 'BSM'
TS has always had a soft spot for Tony Supperstone, long-serving BDO business recovery bod and former R3 president. He has graced the back page of the Age on several occasions - for undertaking his big profile interview (4 May 2006) with a broken rib, and for describing the wonderful fountain at the heart of Birmingham as the 'floozy in the jacuzzi'.
But Tony has really outdone himself this time. Having retired from BDO, Tony told TS that his next move will be not to take on a couple of non-exec roles but to become a driving instructor.
'I can work when I want, get some income, and I've always enjoyed driving,' Tony said. TS was loathe to point out that he'll be the passenger on all those journeys.
In time-honoured fashion, TS's graphics department has already located a picture of Tony in his new role (click the pic).
And don't forget: mirror, signal, manoeuvre!
Lonely hearts for a very good reason
TS is an old romantic at heart and takes great pleasure in reading the 'Lovestruck' column in free sheet The London Paper while sitting in a tunnel on the ever dependable Central Line.
Lovestruck gives readers the chance to contact someone spotted on the train or bus or glimpsed in a pub or club. A stalkers paradise you might think, but the column claims to have brought at least one couple together.The cutting printed here (click the pic) proves there are people who really do deserve each other. If you are the man with the very long trousers, then contact TS straightaway to let us know where we can buy a wedding hat.
Love will find a way!
Colin (unfortunately) talks rugby
Colin discusses Anglo/American relations, with a little bit of a rugby twist. View here or click the pic.
PwC Bermuda embarasses UK's mid-tier
Last week's Hemscott rankings of mid-tier auditors came up with some embarrassing facts.
Not surprisingly, the Big Four featured heavily in the FTSE 250 rankings, as did BDO and Grant Thornton. But the list also included Begbies Chettle Agar, a firm whose most recent accounts show a turnover of
£345,837 but which has one FTSE 250 audit - admittedly, only an investment trust, but still impressive. But the real shocker is that PricewaterhouseCoopers Bermuda has the Catlin Group audit. All those mid-tier challengers must now be wondering: how come PwC Bermuda has more FTSE 350 audits than Baker Tilly, PKF, Tenon, Moore Stephens and Mazars put together?
Facebook makes work a pleasure
TS has been jumpy this week as worrying rumours go round the
office that the IT director at TS Towers is about to block hard workers like TS
from visiting Facebook on company time.
TS would be deeply distressed if the social networking site
was barred, as it would suddenly leave a four-hour hole in the day.
So TS salutes BDO Stoy Hayward managing partner Jeremy
Newman for his far more open-minded approach to web access.
On his blog, the BDO boss had the following to say about the issue: 'I am not sure how effective this will be at increasing staff productivity - which is presumably the intended effect. To be consistent they also need to ban personal phone calls and emails during office hours. Personally, I prefer to trust people.'
TS couldn't agree more Jeremy. Any chance
of popping down to
ICAEW 'blows our minds'
Has getting to the dizzy heights of ICAEW chief executive
gone to Michael Izza's head? TS only asks because there was one of those
accountancy supplements in a well-known national newspaper last week featuring
an interview with the ICAEW boss in which Michael got a little bit carried
away.
'When people visit here and I can point out the presidential
plaques and point to the fact that the international profession started here,
it blows their minds,' he enthused.
It blows their minds? Not TS's usual reaction to the
Moorgate Place HQ admittedly, but given that we've been covering the
TS has a sneaking feeling that Izza is just riding high on popularity after achieving the singular feat of not winding up the membership for a few months. Don't get carried away, Michael. Pride comes before a fall.
A funny thing happened on the way to Hadrian's Wall
Colinus attempts to break down (Scottish) border, unawrae it will take several hundred years before the ICAEW and ICAS get on...view the cartoon here
Silly Season
Looks like the silly season is still well and truly in its pomp. TS was treated to a particular gem from a 'Big Five' firm recently. It has been discovered that 'the number of high profile, big money divorce cases seen through the courts recently, combined with an increasing number of couples cohabiting, could be the key factors behind the lowest divorce rate in England and Wales in the last 22 years'.
TS was about to splash a government-crumbling expose involving accountants in the highest echelons of power, but after this Watergate-esque piece of research, that's been put on ice'.
ICAS turns on charm for ICAEW
Have relations thawed between the ICAEW and ICAS?
Readers will remember that ICAS made unpleasant comments about the institute's proposed merger with CIPFA, leading to a serious falling out.
Then the ICAEW launched a Scottish members' service, which some interpreted as them moving onto ICAS's patch.
But now we discover that everything is cosy. Thirty members of the Scottish members group have apparently been shown around ICAS's venerable home in Edinburgh, CA House.
ICAS even got bigwig Isobel Sharp to show them round.
TS is intrigued. Is it all a case
of kissing and making up? Or is ICAS just trying to tempt
ICAEW members away from Moorgate Place?
The taxman DOES want to Work Together...
When TS is having a bad day at the Towers and finds itself swamped by the frenetic, adrenaline-fuelled world of all things accountancy, it takes a peek through HMRC's announcements for some light relief.
This week HMRC's 'Working Together' publication had the back page chuckling. HMRC had to break the news to its avid adviser readers that after issue 25, 'Working Together' would no longer be available in paper form, a tragedy that, ironically, had advisers frantically scribbling letters of complaint.
HMRC said that, sadly, it was also unable to pass on future issues via email, although readers could access new editions online or via an RSS feed. HMRC then went on to add: 'HMRC wants to show that they (sic) are listening to agents by making information and news easier to find' and responding to agents' areas of concern'. Surely email would be a great way to achieve this noble aim, wouldn't it? Apparently not.
(Non)Domicile showdown
TS apologises for being a bit late with this, but there was an interesting live broadcast on Radio 4 recently about tax and a remarkable comment by one of the nation's top tax commentators.
Richard Murphy, the tax campaigner, was sticking it to an audience on the 'Hecklers' programme about the disadvantages of non-domiciles. Mike Warburton, who was being deployed as a 'Heckler' lobbed in a point about how Gordon had opted not to crack down on non-doms and he, Mike said, was 'one of our most successful chancellors'.
Well, TS was astonished, as you can imagine. Mike never says that on the phone to us. In fact, some of the things he says about Gordon are scarcely printable.
TS's moles at the recording say opinion was divided 50:50 on whether we should ditch the domicile rules. Just one more push, Richard.
LTA makes advertising 'boob'
TS likes to trawl through advertising standards notices, it's helped the Age out with a couple of stories about the ICAEW and HM Revenue & Customs recently.
But it seems TS wasn't keeping a close enough eye on things, missing an absolutely astonishing judgment in May. Two complaints were made against Bewdley-based Licensed Trade Accountants for a marketing shot the firm undertook, aimed at pub licensees.
The ad, according to the ASA, stated: 'You'd employ her to pull a few pints' and a few new customers. Wouldn't you? BUT NOT TO DO YOUR ACCOUNTS!', next to a photograph of a young woman, with 'her breasts partially exposed'.
The ASA concluded that the ad was likely to unfairly denigrate female licensees and staff, while the ad would likely cause serious offence in the industry by suggesting women were only employed in boozers for their physical attributes.
The ad should not be repeated, said the ASA. Shame on you, LTA.
And to answer the obvious question, you smutty lot, NO we don't have a pic of the advert.
