Accounting espionage at the Big 4
Posted by Christie Malry on May 27, 2010 at 11:40 am
Who said accountants were boring. The Telegraph has huge amounts of fun with a delightful story about two neighbours who just can't seem to get along:
Back in 2007 when PricewaterhouseCoopers decided to build a new office next to Ernst & Young's More London HQ it was described as an "exciting move" for the firm.
Three years later with the building nearing completion the two companies are starting to realise quite how exciting things could get. At their closest point the two offices are roughly 10m apart – leading to concerns rival employees could spy on each other.
First blood in the battle has gone to PwC with the installation of blinds that close automatically whenever audio-visual presentation equipment is switched on and an office layout that ensures no computer screens face windows.
E&Y is unlikely to be far behind. On Tuesday it said it was "evaluating a number of options".
Er, didn't they see this coming? I don't suppose it would ever have crossed my mind to have spied on a competitor like that, even though I share - with the late John Peel - a love of staring out of the window.
E&Y's offending building, shown to the right, is part of the rather swish More London complex near London Bridge. There's a funny sort of stream that runs down the middle of the street - you can see it in the picture - which serves no purpose as far as I can tell other than to trip up the unwary.
There's a picture of PricewaterhouseCoopers's building here.
And no doubt we can look forward to more tales of accounting espionage involving these firms in the future!
As an occupant of EY's premises, I can exclusively reveal that we're going to deploy psychological warfare against the new neighbours - firing lasers into their windows, blasting propaganda speeches and brass band music through loudspeakers 24 hours a day, and hanging a 9-storey high picture of our beneficently smiling global chairman on the side of our office. They won't hold out for long.
[...] industrial espionage – at their closest point the two offices are only about 10m apart.On the FCAblog I noted one insider commenting: As an occupant of E&Y’s premises, I can exclusively [...]
[...] industrial espionage – at their closest point the two offices are only about 10m apart.On the FCAblog I noted one insider commenting: As an occupant of E&Y’s premises, I can exclusively [...]
The inter-firm competitive spirit has much to commend it. However as an FCA and a member of a brass band I am deeply troubled that brass band music may be considered a weapon of psychological warfare. Perhaps a looped recording of vevuzelas from WC2010 might be a suitable alternative.