More woe as accountants cut staff

THERE has been more woe for the professional services sector following the announcement that accountancy firms PKF and BDO Stoy Hayward are cutting jobs.

BDO, the sixth biggest firm in the UK, is axing 250 jobs, 8% of its workforce while PKF, the ninth biggest firm, is cutting 5% of its staff.

It follows an announcement from Grant Thornton last week that it was axing 10% of staff, 225 jobs. Larger firms such as KPMG and Deloitte have either announced cuts or are conducting staff reviews.

The cutbacks in accountancy reflect similar moves among the law firms. A poll by Legal Week found nearly a quarter of the top 50 firms were considering redundancies with 10% cuts possible in the next six months.

Simon Michaels, BDO’s managing partner, said: “The current market conditions mean that it is prudent business management to review the size and scale of your business.”