..prioritising continued investment in its regional business, audit quality, talent, technology, and environmental sustainability

? UK fee income grows 1.5% to £2.45bn

? Delivering the highest audit quality remains the top priority. Over the last five years, EY has increased investment in audit quality to £25m per annum in the UK

? Continued investment in EY’s regional business with 31% of new hires outside of London, and the EY Foundation expanded to three new locations

? North West headcount grows after a number of strategic hires and promotions

? 80 graduates and apprentices welcomed to the North West - over 25% more than the previous year.

Following multiple years of strong growth, EY has prioritised continued investment in audit quality, talent, technology, environmental sustainability, and the expansion of its regional business over the last financial year, growing UK revenues by a steady 1.5% and hiring over 2,600 people.

EY’s UK fee income grew to £2.45bn in the financial year ending 30 June 2019, increasing from £2.41bn the previous year. Despite a challenging business environment, revenues in Transaction Advisory Services and Tax grew strongly by 9% and 8% respectively, while Advisory and Assurance revenues declined on previous years by 3% and 5%. Over the last five years, EY has achieved a UK Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6%.

Steve Varley, EY’s UK Chairman commented:

“We are very clear about the crucial role that our work plays in building and sustaining trust and confidence in the capital markets and helping to improve the attractiveness of the UK as a centre for business. That’s why it’s important that we have continued to invest in the right places, despite the uncertain economic environment. This year alone we’ve hired over 2,600 people, with more than a third of all roles in our regional business, invested around £31m in training and development, and have made significant investments in our tech capabilities."

Growth in the North West

EY has continued to invest in its regional business across the UK, with 31% of its 2,600 new recruits based in its regional offices and 55% of its graduate and student hires based outside of London.

Sustained regional growth has seen EY to continue its investment in its people across the regions, with a number of strategic hires and promotions made across EY’s Manchester and Liverpool offices in the North West.

EY’s North West team had another strong year advising on several high-profile deals across a broad range of sectors.

Bob Ward, Managing Partner for EY in the North West, said:

“It’s been another good year for EY and one that has seen growth both nationally and across the North West. EY’s continued commitment toward growth in the regions is once again illustrated this year with a headcount of well above 700, some fantastic senior hires and promotions.

“EY is committed to the North and continues to invest in local talent to ensure that we can meet our clients’ growing needs with people based in the North who know the market and can therefore provide the best possible advice.”

As well as lateral hires, EY also welcomed a total of 80 graduates and apprentices - over 25% more than the previous year. The new cohort, comprised of 64 graduates and 16 apprentices, split between its Manchester and Liverpool offices, will be working towards professional qualifications equivalent to either a bachelor’s or master’s degree upon completion.

Bob Ward continued:

“We were delighted to welcome so many new graduates to EY this year and are thrilled that our apprenticeship degree continues to grow in popularity. Apprentices are vital to our business, driving fresh thought and innovation throughout our services. These schemes are a great opportunity for students from all walks of life to access work experience and a degree qualification with an international firm, without the burden of tuition fees.”

This year also saw EY rank in the top 35 of the Best Companies to Work For in the North West 2019. The list represents the 75 organisations with the highest Regional Best Companies Index (RBCI) scores.

Lists are drawn up from the responses from employees across the entire region who are surveyed about their experience of their workplace environment including leadership, team, personal growth, wellbeing and ‘giving something back’.

Investing in audit quality

Steve Varley commented:

“After multiple years of strong UK growth, we have continued to prioritise the infrastructure needed to deliver high quality audits by investing in compliance, our people and new technologies. While there’s more to do, I’m encouraged by the improvements in our latest audit quality scores from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The FRC inspections looked at 18 of our audits this year, with 89% of the 9 FTSE 350 audits rated in the top category.

“We audit around 5000 organisations in the UK and are increasing our focus to ensure that every one of these audits meets the highest standards. I’m confident that we are taking the steps needed to build on these results in the future.”

EY established a long-term audit quality programme and a dedicated Audit Quality Board in the UK in 2014 and continues to make significant investments to drive ongoing improvement. EY has increased its investment in audit quality in the UK to £25 million per annum, while the number of people dedicated to its audit quality programme has grown by 25% over the last 12 months alone. EY has also continued to invest heavily in new technology and training for its people, recruiting around 30% more UK graduates and school leaver apprentices in audit than last year.

Investments in audit quality have contributed to a number of significant audit wins this year including: Vodafone, Burberry, SSE, Imperial Brands, Beazley, Aston Martin Lagonda, Cobham, Intermediate Capital Group, Keller, SIG, Tullow Oil, The Rank Group, Brewin Dolphin and BGL Group.

Investing in people - strengthening the focus on diversity and inclusion

Earlier this year, EY set ambitious new targets to double the proportion of female and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Partners in its UK business to 40% female and 20% BME by July 2025, as part of a new strategy to radically accelerate its progress on diversity and inclusiveness.

To achieve these targets, EY is increasing investment in its Accelerate and Future Leadership Programme for senior female and BME talent respectively and CareerWatch, a sponsorship programme for mid-career talent. A focus on programmes such as EY Reconnect, which provide a bridge for professionals re-entering the workplace after an extended career break, are also key to attracting future talent. In January, EY also launched a new guide on domestic abuse, introducing tools and resources provided by Everyone’s Business and a period of special leave. These initiatives are in addition to EY’s ongoing focus on culture, flexible working, mental health and wellbeing, and its six employee networks such as the EY Women’s Network.

Following the appointment of Justine Belton to its UK LLP Board this summer, six of the 10 positions on EY’s UK LLP Board are now held by women. EY also appointed 57 new UK equity Partners in July, of which 34% are women (compared to 19% in 2018) and 22% BME (17% in 2018). As of 1 July 2019, EY’s UK partnership overall stands at 22% female and 11% BME. This is an increase of 2% and 1% respectively since 2018.

Steve Varley commented:

“I’m proud of the steps we are taking to build diverse and inclusive teams. We’ve made positive progress but want to accelerate the speed of change, which is why we set ourselves ambitious new UK diversity targets at the start of the year. We see this as a business imperative and a key part of our future growth.

“Our approach to diversity and inclusion extends beyond gender and ethnicity targets. We’re committed to opening the doors of the profession to a broad spectrum of talent. In recent years we’ve launched new apprenticeship programmes such as a digital degree apprenticeship. This year alone we hired 918 graduates and apprentices across the UK.

“Our charity, the EY Foundation, also continues to grow from strength to strength. The Foundation worked with 4,061 young people and 322 employers this year, expanding to three new locations in Liverpool, Stoke and Wolverhampton.”

Committed to environmental sustainability

As part of a commitment to environmental sustainability, EY has taken steps to reduce plastic consumption across all of its UK offices – removing over 7.7m single-use plastic items. Around 47,000 branded plastic carrier bags and 6.5m disposable cups per year have been eliminated across its UK workplaces, following the introduction of reusable cups and bottles. Over 1.2m pieces of plastic takeaway food packaging from EY’s in-house coffee shops and restaurants each year have also been switched to plant-base sustainable alternatives. In addition, all heating and hot water - in buildings where EY purchases its energy from utility providers - is now generated using 100% certified renewable biogas.

EY’s approach to plastic reduction has also been recognised externally, with awards from the Institute for Workplace and Facilities Management and waste2zero.

Transforming EY’s business through data and technology

EY has continued to make significant investments in new technology to provide greater insights, services and efficiencies to its clients and its own business. Over the last financial year, EY has invested over £32m in the UK on technology. Globally, as part of its plan for combined investment of US$1b over two years in new technology solutions and capabilities, EY has been transforming traditional services and launching new offerings with technology.

Future growth

Steve Varley adds:

“I am feeling very optimistic about the future health and growth of our business. The economic environment over the next 12 months is likely to be challenging, as the UK economy adjusts to life outside the EU, but I’m confident that we have a resilient and flexible UK business that is well placed to adapt to a slower growth economy and is also able to draw on the strengths of EY’s global network. We have robust plans in place for our own business and remain focused on supporting our clients.

“We will also continue to play an active and constructive role in the current reviews into corporate reporting and the audit profession. We recognise the importance of the current dialogue around the profession and its regulation and are committed to ensuring that we continue to evolve to best serve business, investors and other public interest stakeholder needs. We believe the right set of comprehensive changes is needed to address corporate reporting, the scope of the audit, a strengthened regulator, and the accountability and regulation of both auditors and company directors.”

2019 financial highlights

• UK fee income growth of 1.5% in the financial year ending 30 June 2019 from £2.41bn to £2.45bn

• Five year compound annual growth rate of 6%

• Distributable profits before tax increased from £472m in FY18 to £477m in FY19

• Total tax contribution for 2019 is more than £927m