In Brief

Sixty per cent of UK financial directors believe that external auditors should do more to detect fraud within their organisations, according to a survey by Reed Accountancy Personnel in assication with the newspaper Accountancy Age.

Zeneca Group is to invest pounds 22m to expand and upgrade its pyrethroid manufacturing units in Huddersfield. The investment will support the strong worldwide demand for the company's Force, Karate and Icon insecticides, increasing capacity and manufacturing flexibility, a spokesman said.

The Bank of England said the Government's auction of pounds 2.5bn of 8 per cent Treasury stock due 2021 was covered by bids 1.93 times. The lowest accepted price was pounds 10628/32, with an equivalent yield of 7.39 per cent. The highest accepted price was pounds 1073/32, yielding 7.37 per cent. Total bids received amounted to pounds 4.824bn.

MEPC, the property company, will move its headquarters in early 1998 and outsource its non-core facilities management and site-based staff in order to concentrate its high-quality facilities management on those buildings where this level of service clearly adds value. The outsourcing involves 340 properties and affects 400 staff. "Terms have been agreed with Nelson Bakewell and Jones Lang Wootton to take on approximately half this total [properties]. The remainder will be dealt with over the next three months," MEPC said.