EY hails buoyant market as profits rise
EY has reported UK fee income growth of 9.2% to £2.35bn for the year to the end of June, up from £2.15bn in the previous year, adding more than £1.3bn of organic revenue since 2010.
Distributable profits before tax increased by 2.7% from £452m to £464m.
The firm, which employs more than 14,000 people and has 685 partners in the UK, saw distributable profit per partner increase by 2.3% to £677,000, compared to £662,000 in 2016.
The performance of EY’s 370-strong Yorkshire practice, comprising offices in Leeds and Hull, was in line with the UK firm’s market-leading growth during FY17.
It has been a year of change for the Yorkshire practice, as EY welcomed Suzanne Robinson as its new senior partner in January.
Robinson said: “The Yorkshire market is generally buoyant and is showing resilience to the uncertainty around Brexit – people have got on with business and are continuing to invest in innovative ways of working and embracing digital transformation.
“Leeds is a self-confident city and we continue to see inward investment across the city region, with a particular increase in the number of projects from the digital sector.
“Leeds has also seen high-quality Grade A office space come online this last year. Indeed, fashion brand Burberry moved 400 staff from its Business Services division – covering finance, HR, procurement, customer service and IT – into its new office in Leeds earlier this month.
“Although those investment decisions will have been made some time ago, seeing them come to fruition is another boost to city pride and confidence and here at EY we are seeing that confidence in our clients too.
“Our Hull office is also an important part of the Yorkshire team, led by assurance associate partner Richard Frostick, and it is embedded in the region’s energy and renewables sectors.
“We have seen a real buzz in the city this year as it enjoys its status as UK City of Culture for 2017 and I am pleased by the recent announcement that the organisation set up to deliver Hull UK City of Culture 2017 is to carry on as a permanent national arts company based in the city.
“That approach of capitalising on the knowledge and expertise it has gained as Culture Company to help ensure a lasting cultural legacy for Hull will pay dividends for all of those who live and work in the historic city.”
EY’s annual North Entrepreneur of the Year awards gave another opportunity for Yorkshire pride to shine through as four of the eight awards went to entrepreneurs from within the region, including Di Walker, executive chair of Karro Food Group, who was crowned overall EY North Entrepreneur of the Year and national winner in the Transformational Leader category.
Meanwhile, business growth has enabled EY to invest in its people and during the period to the end of June the firm made six director promotions.
In April the firm recruited of Vanessa Lee as tax director to lead its private client services team in Yorkshire, Humber and the North East. Since the year end, EY has appointed two equity partners in the Yorkshire region. Catherine Reid is a partner in the audit practice and Mark Irving is responsible for growing Yorkshire’s financial services tax practice.
Across the North, EY has appointed two further partners: Hilary Heap who works across the region’s transactions advisory services team and Mark Clephan, who will continue to lead on mergers and acquisitions.
Robinson added: “Our strong performance in Yorkshire – which was in line with our market-leading UK growth – is underpinned by our continued commitment to this region and our investment in always ensuring we have the best people, with a range of diverse experiences and backgrounds.
She said that another key focus for the next 12 months will be on growing the Yorkshire transactions business.
