Finance and accounting giants in client merry go round

Two of the "big four" London accountancy companies have ended up swapping clients.

Ernst & Young is to take over auditing duties of construction company AMEC, which has chosen to end its 20-year relationship with rival finance and accounting giant KPMG.

However, KPMG has been chosen to undertake the audit of pub owner and leasing company Punch Taverns. The company, which has 7,600 leased or managed pubs across the UK, had used the services of Ernst & Young since 2002.

According to Accountancy Age, a tender for the auditing contract was initiated due to the amount of time Ernst & Young had served Punch Taverns.

Last week, it was revealed that Ernst & Young received £54 million in fees for auditing and non-auditing work from British oil giant BP last year, according to its annual report.

BP's auditing contract is considered such a prized asset due to the scope of the company's work stretching across the world including a much publicised recent multi-billion pound deal in Brazil.

Updated: 15 March 2010.
Categories: finance-and-accounting, london.