David Jetuah, Accountancy Age, Friday 3 July 2009 at 16:30:00

Barkers enters administration and HR consultancy Penna simultaneously announces purchase of the business and assets of the troubled group

Troubled recruitment business Barkers is the latest high-profile company to pull off a pre-packaged administration, the controversial process which some claim disadvantages unsecured creditors.

Earlier this week, Barkers collapsed and HR consultancy Penna simultaneously announced it had purchased the business and assets of the troubled group.

Around 250 of Barkers? former staff will be employed by Penna in their Creative Communications, Recruitment and Resourcing businesses.

Judith Tydd, Accountancy Age, Friday 3 July 2009 at 14:01:00

UK treasury minister reveals jurisdictions on tax priority list

Stephen Timms has unveiled the onshore and offshore jurisdictions the Treasury will be negotiating tax treaties with until 31 March, 2010.

The financial secretary to the Treasury said the tax agreements are revisited annually to ensure they according to meet the needs of the businesses and individuals receiving income from abroad, tax-news.com

Jurisdictions high on the priority list include Australia, Germany, Israel, Qatar and Thailand.

In addition, the UK is pressing ahead with plans to sign off on a tax information exchange agreement with Anguilla, Gibraltar and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Further Reading:

Country-by-country tax reporting gains favour

Treasury closes £1bn loss relief loophole

David Jetuah, Accountancy Age, Friday 3 July 2009 at 10:55:00

Struggling budget airline goes into holding pattern after seeking protection from creditors

Budget airliner SkyEurope has gone into administration after several years of heavy losses.

The Slovak-based airline has long been regarded by City watchers as one of the most vulnerable European carriers as restructuring and consolidation carries on apace in the European aviation industry, the FT reported.

Last ditch attempts to find new investors failed, which led to the company seeking protection from its creditors by filing for administration at the district court in Bratislava.

Rachael Singh, Accountancy Age, Friday 3 July 2009 at 09:50:00

Michael Quayle leaves paint manufacturing for support services

Michael Quayle has been recruited to the board of support services company Parkwood Holdings as finance director, taking up the position later this year.

He joins Parkwood, which provides services such as grounds, leisure and healthcare management, from dye and paint manufacturers European Colour where he was company secretary and finance director.

Quayle, who was previously at KPMG ? where he spent 14 years working in the firms' London, Manchester and Preston offices ? takes over from Terry Bowman who stepped down as group finance director in March having served for two years. Bowman also served as group FD for the company from 1993 to 1998 and hopes to return to interim.

Tony Hewitt, Chairman, said: 'I am please to welcome Mike to the board, where his experience from KPMG and then European Colour Plc will be invaluable.'

Further reading:

Parkwood FD returns to interim management

Accountancy Age, Accountancy Age, Friday 3 July 2009 at 09:40:00

83% say they will survive the recession

Nearly all mid-sized businesses surveyed by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants said they expected to survive the recession.

Of over 600 CIMA members surveyed across the UK and Ireland, 83% said they could weather the downturn, while 80% of management accountants were confident of keeping their job.

But many firms had already shed staff, and the majority reported a decrease of over 10% in either turnover or net profit in the past year. But they had not experienced a commensurate decline in costs, including overheads, supplier prices or basic salary packages. One-third of respondents had experienced cost hikes between 1 and 5% in these areas.

Most of the businesses said the government's 2.5% value added tax reduction has not had a measurable effect.