UK turnover up 7% for Big Four firm
PROFESSIONAL services firm EY has seen its UK turnover increase 7% to £2.15bn, as staff numbers in the region continue to grow.
The figure for the year ending July 1, 2016, takes EY’s compound annual growth rate over the last five years to 8%, adding almost £700m to its revenue.
The firm, which employs 600 staff across offices in Manchester and Liverpool, increased headcount in the region by 15% over the year.
EY’s Transaction Services team in the region worked on 26 deals with a combined value of over £3bn.
The firm does not break down its turnover by region but said that its performance in the North West was “in line” with the firm’s UK-wide growth over the year.
Simon Allport, North West senior partner at EY, said that the North West remains an important market for EY and it is seeing continued confidence in the region, despite some uncertainty around the upcoming negotiations of new trading arrangements with the EU.
He said: “Over recent years we’ve been firmly focused on investing in our business in the region, with new services, office space and the recruitment of top talent. These investments reflect the strong demand from clients and the strength and quality of the region’s businesses.”
He added: “We are making further significant investment in the North with the launch of our legal practice in Manchester. Our move to Two St Peters Square in 2017 will mark a shift change in our working styles. As a ‘workplace of the future’ this office space will present an increased focus on flexible working and cross-team working, together with the introduction of the latest interactive and collaborative technology.”
Steve Varley, EY’s UK chairman, did say that the slow down in the run up to the EU referendum reduced the momentum of EY’s overall performance.
However, distributable profits before tax increased by 3% from £437m to £452m.
Varley said: “We had another good year at EY, with strong growth across all of our service lines, sectors and regions. This has partly been driven by a focus on innovation and investment in technology both within our own business and in the services we provide to our clients. We invested heavily in new audit tools and made two new digital acquisitions – Seren and Integrc.
“We continue to evolve and innovate our business – adapting and responding to new disruptive technologies. Our data analytics capabilities are now a cornerstone of how we deliver and drive our Assurance business. Following our audit successes last year with RBS, Royal Dutch Shell and Associated British Foods, we won several new audits in 2015-16, including Thomas Cook, Persimmon, Vedanta and Renishaw.”
Globally, the organisation reported annual revenues of US$29.6bn for its financial year ending June 30, 2016. This represents a 9% increase over financial year 2015 revenues in local currency.
