Accountancy Age Awards 2010 Business Recovery Project of the Year - KPMG

For the second year in a row KPMG has taken the award for Business Recovery Project of the Year. This time they faced competition from Deloitte, PwC and Arca Group. 

KPMG’s work on the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) for retailers Blacks Leisure sealed the win for the judges. The firm’s successful CVA is just one of a handful undertaken by listed businesses. Blacks fell into difficulty in September 2009 and was faced with the prospect of entering administration. This would have resulted in more than 4,000 job losses. The retailer ended up closing 87 stores and placing its subsidiary into insolvency before KPMG were appointed.  

The judges said KPMG made a standout entry, which impressed with the scale of the jobs that were saved. They added this CVA involved masses of work and demonstrated lots of determination. “What they did was hugely impressive.”