KPMG and Crowe Clark Whitehill win audit tenders

KPMG and Crowe Clark Whitehill have won audit clients in the latest round of tender activity.

As the UK prepares for new Competition and Market Authority (formerly Competition Commission) mandatory tendering rules for FTSE 350 companies to take effect from October, two London Stock Exchange-listed companies have announced the results of taking their contracts to market.

FTSE 250 IT infrastructure provider Computacenter announced KPMG will be appointed as auditor from its 2015 annual general meeting. Incumbent firm EY, which has audited the company’s accounts since its 1998 LSE flotation, will remain in post until shareholders approve KPMG’s role at next year’s AGM.

Tertiary Minerals, which was admitted to the AIM index in 1999, confirmed CCW had come out top in its tender process. The extraction and exploration company’s accounts have been audited by BDO since it became a listed company.

The announcements are the latest in a flurry of tender activity. Earlier this week, FTSE 100 software provider Sage awarded EY its £2m audit contract, as PwC bows out following a 26-year tenure as auditor.

EY also replaced PwC as auditor at Dignity and the London Stock Exchange, while PwC took over the FTSE 100 outsourcer Bunzl’s audit contract from KPMG.

Despite a number of recent audit switch announcements, research from Bloomsbury Professional found just one in 20 (6%) of businesses with a turnover of more than £6.25m switched provider in the last financial reporting year before new rules are implemented.