THE ACCOUNT
The latest in finance and business
The slow and the furious
Gallup’s latest “State of the Global Workplace” annual report was published last month, arriving against a backdrop of uncertainty about what the future of work holds for a growing number of employees.
The report starts with an ominous headline: “Is the Global Workplace at a Breaking Point?” It goes on to say that employee engagement fell last year, costing the world economy $438bn (£330bn) in lost productivity.
The report found global employee engagement fell two percentage points to 21%, with Europe (including the UK) having the lowest levels (13%). And it is managers who are suffering the most, as they are caught in the crossfire between the demands of executives and the expectations of employees.
“It is not going to stop with managers,” the report continued. “Manager engagement affects team engagement, which affects productivity. Business performance – and ultimately GDP growth – is at risk if executive leaders do not address manager breakdown.”
Another key finding is that only 44% of managers say they have received management training. This was an issue highlighted during last year’s CA Summit by Lord Mark Price, who warned that too many people had been promoted to management positions without formal training – a failing for which there would be consequences.
But while Europe performs poorly on engagement, the US ranks worst for stress. Exactly half of US workers said they experienced stress “a lot of the day”, compared with 38% in Europe. And on the question of “anger”, South Asia seems to have the most furious workplaces, with 34% saying they were angry much of the time at work, compared with just 14% in cool, calm – but possibly disengaged and unproductive – Europe.
The slow and the furious
Gallup’s latest “State of the Global Workplace” annual report was published last month, arriving against a backdrop of uncertainty about what the future of work holds for a growing number of employees.
The report starts with an ominous headline: “Is the Global Workplace at a Breaking Point?” It goes on to say that employee engagement fell last year, costing the world economy $438bn (£330bn) in lost productivity.
The report found global employee engagement fell two percentage points to 21%, with Europe (including the UK) having the lowest levels (13%). And it is managers who are suffering the most, as they are caught in the crossfire between the demands of executives and the expectations of employees.
“It is not going to stop with managers,” the report continued. “Manager engagement affects team engagement, which affects productivity. Business performance – and ultimately GDP growth – is at risk if executive leaders do not address manager breakdown.”
Another key finding is that only 44% of managers say they have received management training. This was an issue highlighted during last year’s CA Summit by Lord Mark Price, who warned that too many people had been promoted to management positions without formal training – a failing for which there would be consequences.
But while Europe performs poorly on engagement, the US ranks worst for stress. Exactly half of US workers said they experienced stress “a lot of the day”, compared with 38% in Europe. And on the question of “anger”, South Asia seems to have the most furious workplaces, with 34% saying they were angry much of the time at work, compared with just 14% in cool, calm – but possibly disengaged and unproductive – Europe.
Administration nation
Each month, consultancy firm Kroll publishes a report on the number of insolvencies in the UK. March 2025 produced the highest figure since those reports began in 2017, with 141 companies going into administration, up from 108 in the corresponding month last year.
“March’s record number of company administrations reflects distress in the market,” said Benjamin Wiles, Head of UK Restructuring at Kroll. “There are mounting pressures on all businesses – from the costs brought in with the autumn Budget to those posed by the uncertainty of global tariffs.”
One hopes this is an outlier, as the overall figure for the first quarter of 2025 paints a brighter picture. There were 262 companies entering administration in the first three months of the year – 10 fewer than during the same period last year.
Administration nation
Each month, consultancy firm Kroll publishes a report on the number of insolvencies in the UK. March 2025 produced the highest figure since those reports began in 2017, with 141 companies going into administration, up from 108 in the corresponding month last year.
“March’s record number of company administrations reflects distress in the market,” said Benjamin Wiles, Head of UK Restructuring at Kroll. “There are mounting pressures on all businesses – from the costs brought in with the autumn Budget to those posed by the uncertainty of global tariffs.”
One hopes this is an outlier, as the overall figure for the first quarter of 2025 paints a brighter picture. There were 262 companies entering administration in the first three months of the year – 10 fewer than during the same period last year.
CAs in the news
Louise Smith CA
Louise Smith CA has recently been made a Partner at Hall Morrice. Her promotion is a significant achievement, as she becomes the first woman in 30 years to be promoted internally to this level at the firm. “Hall Morrice has been my professional home for almost two decades, and I’m incredibly proud to take this next step,” said Smith. “The firm’s commitment to developing its people has shaped my career, and I’m excited to help drive its future success.”
Jim Stretton CA
Jim Stretton CA is the new Managing Director of the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and Advanced Research Clusters, a 700-acre science and technology campus in Oxfordshire, England. The campus is home to almost 250 public and private sector organisations employing 6,000 people. Stretton, who joined in 2021 as CFO & COO, said: “Over the last four years we have built a leading portfolio, with the foundations set for strong growth in the years ahead.”
Mark Fitzpatrick CA
Mark Fitzpatrick CA was the subject of a recent feature in Spear’s magazine explaining how he has turned around the fortunes of St James’s Place since becoming its CEO in November 2023. The wealth-management company had previously had to pay more than £400m in compensation over advice that clients paid for but never received. But under his stewardship the company has recovered and gone from loss to profit.
Opening time
The Barclays Finance Experience was launched late in 2023, co-created by Andy Hall, a director at the bank, and Craig McLaughlin CA and Professor Andrew Marshall, both of Strathclyde University.
The programme, which is designed to open up the banking sector to students, has since gone from strength to strength. Each year, 100 undergraduates from Glasgow (where the lead is Lynn Currie CA) and Stirling universities get the opportunity to gain valuable insight from senior leaders about the breadth of the sector’s career opportunities and the role of accounting and finance.
The programme was launched to give students experience of the banking and financial sector – one that many rule out because they don’t fully understand it, even as they struggle to gain work experience elsewhere.
McLaughlin says that when students are studying for a degree they often lack opportunities to converse face to face with senior leaders, which is a key skill for any accountant. In this programme, students benefit from skills development by working on a group exercise across the six-week duration, learning from their encounters with other Barclays staff and delivering a presentation in the final week.
Many of the skills and discussion themes relate directly to the new CA syllabus.
Opening time
The Barclays Finance Experience was launched late in 2023, co-created by Andy Hall, a director at the bank, and Craig McLaughlin CA and Professor Andrew Marshall, both of Strathclyde University.
The programme, which is designed to open up the banking sector to students, has since gone from strength to strength. Each year, 100 undergraduates from Glasgow (where the lead is Lynn Currie CA) and Stirling universities get the opportunity to gain valuable insight from senior leaders about the breadth of the sector’s career opportunities and the role of accounting and finance.
The programme was launched to give students experience of the banking and financial sector – one that many rule out because they don’t fully understand it, even as they struggle to gain work experience elsewhere.
McLaughlin says that when students are studying for a degree they often lack opportunities to converse face to face with senior leaders, which is a key skill for any accountant. In this programme, students benefit from skills development by working on a group exercise across the six-week duration, learning from their encounters with other Barclays staff and delivering a presentation in the final week.
Many of the skills and discussion themes relate directly to the new CA syllabus.
Dirty laundry
The introduction of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 means that from September organisations will become criminally responsible for failing to prevent fraud. And not before time, one might argue.
A new report published by BDO reveals that money laundering was the largest type of financial crime by value in the UK in 2024. The report reveals that such cases totalled £337m in 2024, representing 61% of the total reported value of fraud and economic crime for 2024. Perhaps the most startling figure is that the average value of these cases was £19.84m – a tenfold rise on the £1.96m average recorded the previous year.
And the true figure is likely to be substantially higher. “Statistics can only ever provide a partial picture of the scale of the problem, given that it is widely accepted that fraud remains vastly underreported across the broader economy,” said Stephen Peters, BDO Partner and Head of Investigations.
Money laundering is often described as a “silent crime”, but it has become increasingly visible. Earlier this year a series of raids were carried out in high streets across England and Wales, targeting barber shops suspected to be fronts for laundering operations.
Again, there is a startling figure behind the headline. The average number of barber shops per person – or per head if you prefer – in England and Wales has doubled in the past 10 years. It is easy to understand the frustrations of people living in communities that see new shops opening with little or no custom, but investigating such crimes can be a lengthy process.
According to the National Crime Agency around £100bn is laundered through the UK each year. So it will be interesting to see what effect the Act has and whether this country will at long last be able to shrug off its reputation as a laundromat for dirty money.
Ryan Herman
Dirty laundry
The introduction of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 means that from September organisations will become criminally responsible for failing to prevent fraud. And not before time, one might argue.
A new report published by BDO reveals that money laundering was the largest type of financial crime by value in the UK in 2024. The report reveals that such cases totalled £337m in 2024, representing 61% of the total reported value of fraud and economic crime for 2024. Perhaps the most startling figure is that the average value of these cases was £19.84m – a tenfold rise on the £1.96m average recorded the previous year.
And the true figure is likely to be substantially higher. “Statistics can only ever provide a partial picture of the scale of the problem, given that it is widely accepted that fraud remains vastly underreported across the broader economy,” said Stephen Peters, BDO Partner and Head of Investigations.
Money laundering is often described as a “silent crime”, but it has become increasingly visible. Earlier this year a series of raids were carried out in high streets across England and Wales, targeting barber shops suspected to be fronts for laundering operations.
Again, there is a startling figure behind the headline. The average number of barber shops per person – or per head if you prefer – in England and Wales has doubled in the past 10 years. It is easy to understand the frustrations of people living in communities that see new shops opening with little or no custom, but investigating such crimes can be a lengthy process.
According to the National Crime Agency around £100bn is laundered through the UK each year. So it will be interesting to see what effect the Act has and whether this country will at long last be able to shrug off its reputation as a laundromat for dirty money.
Ryan Herman
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