Financial Management (UK) articles from November 2002

Financial Management (UK) archives from November 2002

Editorial comment.
November 1, 2002... In an ideal world, technological advances would be great news for company finances--to listen to some providers' promises, you could be forgiven for assuming that this ideal world actually exists in every firm other than your own. Of course,...

Meacher backs CIMA on environmental reporting.
November 1, 2002... Current listing requirements for companies encourage short-termism and require an overhaul, according to CIMA. Charles Tilley, chief executive, is inviting Michael Meacher (above), minister for the environment, to a meeting with the Financial...

OFT proposes tougher penalties: ignorant-directors face disqualification under a new law. (Competition Law).
November 1, 2002... Directors remain unaware of competition law despite the threat of disqualification, according to City law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP). They could be disqualified for up to 15 years for breaches of competition law under new penalties...

Accountancy Foundation review brought forward. (Regulation).
November 1, 2002... The Accountancy Foundation, the UK's first independent regulator of the industry, is to come under the government spotlight three years earlier than planned. Trade minister Patricia Hewitt has launched a review of the regulator in response to...

Ministers plan to extend IAS: private firms should prepare for international standards. (Accounting Standards).
November 1, 2002... Options set out by the government to extend international accounting standards (IAS) to all companies could cost business up to 1.4 billion [pounds sterling], according to official figures. An EU regulation adopted earlier this year...

EU tightens governance laws.
November 1, 2002... EU foreign ministers will consider the role of company directors as part of a review of corporate governance law. The review follows advice from a European Commission task force, which had a remit covering public tenders, company law, corporate...

Internet-based reporting paper.
November 1, 2002... IFAC has issued a paper calling on directors to develop an internet reporting policy that ensures they provide high-quality transparent information on the web. The policy should include: * the types and format of financial information that...

Blair's PFI sop causes anxiety: the PM's half-measure risks deterring future investment. (Public Finance).
November 1, 2002... Tony Blair's attempt to appease opposition to the private finance initiative at Labour's annual conference has failed to address deep concerns about public-private partnership, investment experts have warned. Senior PFI advisers believe...

FTSE firms' funds in freefall.
November 1, 2002... The pension schemes of the FTSE 100 companies have lost 63 billion [pounds sterling] since the start of the year, according to actuarial and pensions consultancy UBSL. It estimates that their final-salary schemes could be 23 per cent worse off...

How to prepare for a successful CRM initiative. (News Round-Up).
November 1, 2002... More than a half of all customer relationship management (CRM) implementations completely fail to live up to expectations, while a further 20 her cent fail substantially to do so, according to a survey by the Gartner Group. But most of these...

IT spending boosts profits.
November 1, 2002... Investment in IT will increase a company's profits, but only if the spending is spread around, according to a Gartner Group survey of European business confidence. The average profit of firms that invested heavily in IT is 9.1 per cent,...

Integration problems.
November 1, 2002... Poor technology integration in the retail and banking sectors threatens to undermine customer-supplier efficiency, according to new research by ICM/Conchango. A third of financial institutions think they have poor technology integration with...

Continental rift: companies should expect to have to consult employee representatives at a far earlier stage if they are preparing to make a major round of redundancies in future. (Legal).
November 1, 2002... Behind the new Employment Act and the wave of other recent legislative proposals, work-related case law continues to develop apace. Union recognition agreements are on the increase and there also seems to be an unending stream of new EU...

Cartesis[R]: the issue of risk management is becoming an increasingly important item on the boardroom agenda, but why should this be the case now? (Questions & Answers).
November 1, 2002... Few people would argue with the statement "business is risk". So it's perhaps surprising that, at group level, only the risks associated with financing have traditionally been managed with rigour. Not any longer--all aspects of risk are...

Internal affairs: before you start implementing a CRM system, ask yourself whether you are handling customer relationships inside your organisation effectively. (People Management).
November 1, 2002... It's crucial for businesses to be open to innovations in strategic business thinking if they are to perform to their true potential. The trouble is that most supposedly innovative strategies simply rehash what has been thought before, while...

Precision decisions: Mike James's company makes IT systems that control processes on which people's lives depend. He explains to Ruth Prickett the rise and rise of a business whose engineers `work in milliseconds'. (Entrepreneur).
November 1, 2002... Given that he never saw himself working for a multinational, and that all he ever wanted to do was run his own company, Mike James did well to restrain himself long enough to compile an impressive CV at high-tech firms such as Allen-Bradley and...

Space manager: if you'd asked a boy in the 1970s what he wanted to do when he grew up, you might have expected him to say `train driver' or `astronaut'. The young Owen Barwell already knew that he wanted to be an accountant. But, as he points out to Cathy Hayward, few other career choices would have allowed him to work for both British Rail and Nasa. (Cover feature: Owen Barwell).
November 1, 2002... Management accounting might not be rocket science, but Owen Barwell has seen his career in finance blast off since joining the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) in the summer. Appointed as senior financial adviser,...

The appliance of clients: a customer relationship management system has the potential to offer major benefits, but FDs often find it hard to gauge the true return on this investment. Paul Miner draws on case-study evidence to explain how to implement a CRM system that best meets the needs of your business. (How to customer relationship management).
November 1, 2002... Historically, financial directors have viewed customer relationship management (CRM) as an expensive and ineffective IT system pushed by overzealous vendors. Respondents to a survey last year by Bain & Company, for example, rated it as one of...

Valued customers: to what extent can the worth of customer relationships be measured from the point of view of investors and other stakeholders? John White offers a basic model for use in mergers, acquisitions and divestments. (Finance: valuation).
November 1, 2002... John Sidgmore is the man with the task of cleaning out the Stygian accounting stables left behind by WorldCom's flamboyant founder, Bernie Ebbers. Announcing the largest Chapter 11 filing in US history, the company's new CEO was quoted as...

An OFR you can't refuse: recent initiatives to modernise company law should give management accountants a wider role in financial reporting. Jim Metcalf explains why the government's proposals for the operating and financial review in annual reports might lead to the publication of some really useful information. (Finance: reporting).
November 1, 2002... When the company law review steering group delivered its final report to the DTI in July last year, it was the culmination of a comprehensive--and long-awaited--analysis of UK company law. This report formed the basis of the government's...

Losing the initiative: are private finance initiative contracts a truly viable method of delivering public services? Malcolm Howard examines three companies that have been heavily involved in PFI projects and finds worrying signs that the concept may not be as sound as its supporters argue. (Finance: PFI contracts).
November 1, 2002... A question that's often raised in respect of private finance initiative (PFI) contracts is whether the concept is based on ideological reasons or on the genuine belief that the private sector is more cost-effective than the public sector and...

Shelling out: as the US urges its allies to prepare for action in the war on terrorism, Merrill Cassell asks what effect this will have on the global economy, and discusses whether the current emphasis among western governments on military, rather than civilian, spending is really justified. (Business: public spending).
November 1, 2002... The historical rise in government spending in nearly all countries over the past two centuries cannot be taken as a measure of either the relative importance of government as a whole or the comparative roles of central and lower levels of...

Institute news.
November 1, 2002... President's engagements 4 Nov CAS annual dinner 12/13 Nov CIMA conference 14/16 Nov Proposed visit to Malaysia division (TBC) 18/21 Nov The 16th world congress of ...

Exemptions for MIA members.
November 1, 2002... In response to a call by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), CIMA has offered exemptions of up to 13 papers to MIA members with degrees from a recognised local university. Speaking at the scheme's launch in Kuala Lumpur, Dato' Lee Ow...

CIMA CEOs promise to rebuild confidence. (Institute News).
November 1, 2002... Funding and financing remains the most misunderstood part of the railway system, Richard Bowker (right), chief executive of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), told guests at the prestigious Anthony Howitt lecture on 26 September. The event...

New council member required: casual vacancy, area 4. (Institute News).
November 1, 2002... Notice is given that, as the council member in electoral area 4 (West Midlands), John Perry, has retired, a new candidate is sought to represent area 4 on council. The casual vacancy will exist until the close of the AGM 2004, as prescribed by...

Institute diary.
November 1, 2002... CENTRAL LONDON AND NORTH THAMES See area newsletter for further information and contact details 6 November Expectations for the UK economy in 2003 Speaker: William Simpson, Euler Trade Indemnity plc Time: 6.45 for 7.15pm...

Obituary.
November 1, 2002... Frederick Weatherill, who died in February this year, would be pleased to know that his certificate for gaining the highest mark in the final level exams of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants in 1940 has been returned to CIMA's...

Does CRM equal customer satisfaction?
November 1, 2002... Over 80 CIMA and IoD members and guests tried to find the answer to this question at a recent West Surrey branch event at Guildford Cathedral Refectory. The main speaker was Jonathan Wilson, an expert in strategy facilitation, who explored the...

Dundec group. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Bruce Burrowes ACMA (above) has been appointed finance director of the Dundee group, which specialises in car park refurbishment, structural waterproofing and roofing. Burrowes joins from CDC Capital Partners where he worked in its managed...

Weir Group. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Anne-Marie Breewood FCMA (above) has been appointed finance director of Glasgow-based engineering company the Weir Group. She replaces Jim Montgomery FCMA, who retires after 32 years at the company. Breewood joins from Siemens Network Systems,...

Marakon Associates. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Andrew Ewer ACMA has been appointed finance director of Marakon Associates, with responsibility for its European and Asian operations. Ewer was previously financial controller for the Terence Chapman Group.

Allied London Properties. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Gary Trott ACMA has been appointed group financial controller at Allied London Properties. He was previously group financial accountant at the company. Prior to this, Trott was group accountant at MyNewDeal.com

Nova Chemicals. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Karen Dicks FCMA (above) has been appointed European finance director of Nova Chemicals. In this new role, she will lead a 21-strong team based in four countries and will be responsible for legal entity accounting, planning, budgeting,...

Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Lal Balkaran FCMA has been appointed president of the Toronto chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). The IIA, Toronto, has almost 1,200 members and, excluding affiliates, is the fourth largest IIA chapter worldwide.

Partners for Change. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Change management consultancy Partners for Change has appointed Catherine Lane as financial controller. Lane joins from Transacsys, where she was group financial controller. She was previously a senior manager at Deloitte & Touche.

Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Martin Sinyangwe ACMA (above) has joined the Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies as a lecturer in accountancy, including management accounting, financial accounting and taxation for both CIMA and ACCA courses. Sinyangwe joins from the Zambia...

Baring Asset Management. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Baring Asset Management has appointed James Codrington as private client investment manager, with responsibility for UK and charity clients. Codrington was previously senior fund manager at Teather and Greenwood.

Sharp Consultancy. (On the move).
November 1, 2002... Mark Wilson (above) has been appointed managing director at financial recruitment firm Sharp Consultancy. Wilson was previously finance director of Staffline, a supplier of blue-collar temporary and contract staff. He has worked in a number of...

On the move.
November 1, 2002... The future CFO and finance function 6 November, Manchester Cost: 85 [pounds sterling] (includes refreshments and lunch) Tel: 0161 275 4011, or e-mail: janet.wolfendale@man.ac.uk In or out of IR35? 6 November, London Interim...