Growth supports continued investment in EY’s Yorkshire operations

Professional services business EY says its operations in Yorkshire have seen “sustained regional growth” over the last financial year.

The company has made a number of strategic hires and promotions across its Leeds and Hull offices.

Across Yorkshire and the North East, EY has appointed one equity partner and promoted four individuals to associate partner.

It has also appointed two new senior hires in its North Corporate Finance team; Richard Pulford and Rebecca Rennison.

Pulford joined from DC Advisory, where he spent 13 years growing and leading the firm’s North West team and

Rennison joined from PwC, where she led the Yorkshire Corporate Finance team. The pair will work together with Mark Clephan to lead the team as it continues its ambition to become the leading Corporate Finance practice in the region.

EY says its Yorkshire Strategy and Transactions team had another strong year advising on several high-profile deals across a broad range of sectors.

Notable deals the team worked on during the year include the acquisition of Assentis by Smart Communications, the LDC-backed merger of Lomond Capital with Harrogate-headquartered Linley & Simpson, the sale of IG Industries and Brayford Plastics to ProAmpac, the acquisition of Bee Health by US-based INW, Novax’s acquisition of Ulrick & Short, and Berkeley DeVeer on their acquisition of Avant Homes.

Suzanne Robinson, managing partner for EY in Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “EY has seen strong balanced growth both nationally and regionally and we’ve continued to make significant investments in our Yorkshire business.

“We employ over 400 people across Yorkshire and the Humber, and we’ve continued to invest in local talent with a number of significant appointments in key areas such as Corporate Finance, Strategy and Transactions, and Tax.

“This will help us to meet growing client demand, with people who have a good understanding of the Yorkshire market.”

Over the same period, the company’s Leeds office welcomed 31 graduates and apprentices, while five graduates and apprentices joined its Hull office.

The new cohort will be working towards professional qualifications equivalent to either a bachelor’s or master’s degree upon completion.

Nationally, EY’s UK revenues grew by 7.3% for the financial year ended 2 July, while its UK fee income grew to £2.75bn from £2.57bn the previous year.

Revenues in Strategy and Transactions grew 12.1%, Consulting grew 9.5%, Assurance grew 5.8% and Tax grew 4%.

Distributable profits before tax increased to £533m, up from £479m in FY20.

Hywel Ball, the firm’s UK chair, said: “We’ve seen strong balanced growth across all areas of our business.

“This has been driven by high levels of demand from our clients as companies adapted to the realities of COVID-19, as well as the long-term investments we’ve made in our people and services which has meant we’ve been resilient, agile and able to respond to our stakeholders’ needs.”