Our firm in unexpected places
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When you've been working across the UK for 150 years, the calls for help can come anywhere.
The Rumble in the Jungle. In 1974, the underdog Muhammad Ali defeated the World Champion George Foreman at the Rumble in the Jungle. It was a sporting moment like no other. We were the supervising accountants of the promoter and the UK firm managed the sale of TV and other rights to enable the moment to be broadcast around the world.
The fall of the Berlin Wall. After the wall came down in November 1989, there was an urgent need for the city to revive its infrastructure and help balance out almost thirty years of separation. KPMG sent instructors to Moscow to train 45 Soviet managers to take on new infrastructure roles.
Strictly Come auditing. The producers of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing called on KPMG during the show’s sixth series in 2008, to advise on their redesigned voting system. The previous week, a mix-up had drawn 2,000 complaints.
The Millennium bug. As the new millennium approached, it was feared the small change of a single digit on computers’ date mechanisms would cause widespread disruption to computer operations. We were asked to support a number of businesses in getting themselves prepared. In the end - fortunately - the worst fears of millennial meltdown didn’t come to pass.
World record kick. In 2012, KPMG found its way into the Guinness Book of World Records, performing the largest ever Taekwondo kick. 805 people took part over 11 offices, raising more than £50,000 for Barnardo’s.
