EY picks up two London-listed company audits

EY HAS CONTINUED its run of recent audit wins by adding two London-listed businesses to its client base.

Cape, a provider of industrial services to the energy sector, said it had replaced PwC as its auditors after ten years on the recommendation of its audit committee. The tender process began in May and included two other firms.

The Big Four firm was also appointed as auditors of Vimetco, a globally integrated aluminium group with mines in Sierra Leone and China. EY replaces Deloitte as auditors of the £1.5bn turnover business.

Audit has proved to be a successful area for EY of late, with the firm picking up the audits of FTSE 100 constituents BG Group and Land Securities and, most recently, the audit of Spanish flag carrier Iberia.

In an interview with Accountancy Age, EY managing partner Steve Varley attributed the firm’s success to the audit retendering market, which is “picking up in pace” and EY’s “sustained investment into a better audit service over many years”.

“Clients are starting to understand there are differences between the Big Four. If you are a firm with a global footprint we like to think that EY fit you a bit better than the rest,” Varley said.

On Monday, the Competition Commission published measures aimed at increasing rivalry among firms auditing Britain’s largest businesses, which included forcing auditors to compete for work every five years.