Baroness Noakes, (Sheila Masters as she was know when a partner at KPMG) is not a woman easily deflected from her intentions.

Well, that’s the conclusion to be drawn from the interview with her in this week’s Accountancy Age. Now a Treasury spokesperson, the Baroness was described by one source as ‘the kind of person who could easily steamroll others.'

Naturally, the observer was not referring to some Fred Dibnah characteristic of cruising country lanes in a lovingly restored vintage steam engine. No this is about a tough and uncompromising approach to work

Our source said: ‘It was easy to be brushed aside by her – you had to stand up for yourself, and then she respected you.’

That sounds more like she refused to suffer fools gladly and expected everyone to support their case, rather than wilt in the face of sustained argument. What else would you expect from a successful partner in a top firm?

This must be the approach that stood her in good stead for an entry into politics. Her interventions on the question of making audit inspection reports public are example of pushing a serious line in the face of some opposition. Her plain speaking and determination easily outweighing the

Keep on steamrolling Baroness Noakes.

August 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

I note that reports in the press say Bob Mellors, finance director at Sports Direct, has been handed an exceptional bonus of £5m.

That's a nice sum and should ensure that the Mellors' family Christmas this year is no Bob Cratchett affair.

But I can't imagine it's going to change the mind of City figures who only a couple of weeks ago were telling Sunday newspapers, unattributably, that Mellors had to go. The Sunday Times quoted one analyst as describing presentations by the embattled FD as 'farcical'.

The source of that quote must be somewhat dumbfounded at the size of Mellors bonus.

At the moment there can't be an FD of a listed company in the country that feels more besieged than Mellors. And once the analysts start briefing against you the City can suddenly seem like a very lonely place to do business.

What seems to be emerging, more than anything else however, is how loyal maverick chief executive and Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley is to his FD.

You can imagine how a CEO more sensitive to the damage press reports can do could be cowed by the pressure exerted by the comments of analysts and investors appearing in national newspapers. But Ashley looks as if he is made of tougher stuff. And despite the somewhat eccentric exterior Ashley is also regarded as a man who really knows his business - 'inside out' it is said. Could it be beyond the City to trust his judgement on Mellors because, for the time being at least, Ashley seems to be standing by his man. To the tune of five million quid, apparently.

August 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Serge Corel, FD at Mondial, the support services group, makes an interesting point in a recent interview for Accountancy Age.

It's about that thorny old issue of audit firm rotation. Of course rotation is not a favoured option among most auditors here in the UK - in fact most treat it with derision - but it has been deemed a topic for review by the Financial Reporting Council.

Corel, it seems, has a soft spot for it:

After a certain period of time your relationship with your auditor can become a little bit too comfortable. If it was compulsory to change auditors, it would force you to put everything on the table and look at it with fresh pair of eyes.

I think that when an auditor has worked with a company for a number of years it does not always give it the same attention that is could because it is comfortable,’ he says.

Couldn't help but mischeviously look up and find that KPMG is Mondial's auditor and that Ian Sutcliffe signed off the last set of accounts in March this year.

KPMG have been doing the audit a good few years but Corel does not elaborate on when it might be appropriate to dump your current auditor to find a new one. Mr Sutcliffe, watch out, your time may be up.

August 1, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)