PricewaterhouseCoopers loses £18 million Unilever contract to rival KPMG

Unilever has announced plans to ditch PricewaterhouseCoopers after 27 years and is set to move its £18 million a year audit to rival KPMG.

The move comes just two months after the Competition Commission told big companies they must put their annual audit out to tender every 10 years.

PWC earned a further  £3 million from Unilever last year for non-audit work including tax advice.

The switch will be put to shareholders at the 2014 annual meetings.