Deloitte pays partners more than £1m each as consulting revenues surge

Deloitte today said its 672 equity partners will take away average payouts of £1.06m each after a bumper year for its advisory business saw the Big Four accounting firm’s revenues surge 10 per cent to £4.9bn.  

The uptick in Deloitte’s UK revenues for the year running up to 31 May 2022 came as sales from its UK advisory business jumped 11 per cent to £3.6bn on the back of a 15 per cent uptick in revenues the its consulting business.

The firm said the 15 per cent uptick in its consulting business, that it post revenues of £1.37bn for the past financial year, came on the back of an uptick in demand for advice from the private sector in the wake of Covid-19.

The bumper revenues from Deloitte’s consulting division come as the accounting firm pushes forwards with plans to further capitalise on the ongoing boom in demand for consulting services by hiring 3,500 new consultants, as part of a £220m hiring spree over the next five years.

Deloitte chief executive Richard Houston said the past year’s “strong balanced growth” means the firm is now ready to help clients “navigate the current economic headwinds” posed by “high inflation, and rising interest rates and costs”.

Sales from the firm’s UK audit and assurance business also increased nine per cent, to £723m, as the firm pushes forwards with plans to bolster its audit practice.  

The accounting firm in August set out plans to hire more than 6,000 new UK audit and assurance staff, in a bid to boost the quality of its audit work, amid mounting scrutiny of the world’s largest auditors in the wake of a series of high-profile accounting scandals.

Income from Deloitte’s tax advisory business also increased 14 per cent to £1.1bn as revenues from the firm’s financial and risk advice segments increased four per cent each, to sums of £598m and £501m respectively.

The Big Four accounting firm said its financial advice business was bolstered by the past year’s “buoyant M&A market” as it also experienced an uptick in demand for advice on financial crime and regulation.

Deloitte’s risk advisory business was also boosted by companies seeking advice on sustainability and digital security risks.

“Our results have enabled us to make record investments – the highest in over a decade – in reward, promotions and skills,” Houston said.

The £1.06m partner payouts come after Deloitte’s partners were paid overall sums of £1.05m last year, made up of £854,000 in distributed profits alongside a one-off £196,000 windfall from the sale of the firm’s restructuring business to Teneo.

In August, partners at PwC were paid record sums of more than £1m after receiving £920,000 in profits plus £105,000 windfalls from the sale of the Big Four firm’s mobility business.