Latest Insights 

Speaking at the 12th annual Shared Services Outsourcing Network conference in Amsterdam, Claudio Altini, director within KPMG’s shared services and outsourcing advisory practice, suggested that continued economic uncertainty has forced the outsourcing industry to mature. He said: “All the evidence suggests that organisations are expanding the services they outsource, but it is no longer accurate to say that they are turning to third-party suppliers just to reduce costs.  Today’s challenge is much more about searching for the next level of value, which means ripping up the traditional outsourcing contract and replacing it with guarantees that assure value for money.” Read more

Retailers have been hit hard by the wettest April since records began, with sales value down 3.3% on a like-for-like basis from last year, and down 1% on a total basis. Food sales fell back after benefitting from a later Easter in 2011, while the chilly temperature hit clothing and footwear sales. Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG, says: “The sector is undergoing structural change as our desire to consume ever increasing volumes of goods diminishes and technological advances continue to change the way we shop. While May will certainly be brighter than April, the health of the retail sector continues on a downward trajectory." Read more

Private equity and infrastructure funds are set to kick-start an increase in deal activity in the renewable energy sector over the next 18 months, according to ‘Green Power 2012’, KPMG’s annual survey of global renewable energy mergers and acquisitions. It found that 92% of all respondents expected infrastructure funds and private equity investors to be the most active in buying and investing in renewable, followed by independent power producers, marking a distinct shift away from utilities companies which have been the most historically active acquirers. Read more