EY UK net revenues grew 3% in a challenging market

• EY has announced UK fee income of £3.70bn for the financial year ending 30 June 2024.
• Net revenues grew 3% and fee income was flat year on year.
• Market leading compound annual fee income growth of 10% achieved over the last four years.
• Investments in talent, technology and audit quality create a strong platform for continued long term growth.

EY has today announced UK fee income of £3.70bn for the financial year ending 30 June 2024. This performance follows four years of UK market leading growth, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10% for fee income over the last four years.

Net revenues grew 3% in FY24, while fee income remained flat year on year due to a reduction in large cross border transactions and transformation projects.

In a challenging trading environment, EY achieved 10% revenue growth for its Assurance business and 4% growth for Tax, while revenues for Consulting and Strategy and Transactions decreased by 4% and 13% respectively.

Distributable profits before tax were £653m (£659m in FY23).  Average distributable profits per Partner were down 5% to £723,000 compared to £761,000 in FY23, reflecting the higher average Partner numbers during FY24.

Hywel Ball comments: “In a year of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we’ve delivered a strong performance and continued to invest in the business, our people and the communities in which we operate.

“With depressed UK and global deal activity and weak levels of corporate confidence during FY24, we have responded to the market to ensure we have the right platform for continued long-term growth and profitability.

“We’ve created jobs for 1,600 young people across the UK, continued to make significant investments in audit quality, and accelerated our investments in AI. These investments will support our long-term growth trajectory, whilst enabling us to adapt and serve the changing needs of our clients.

“The roots of our firm extend back over 200 years to James McClelland in Glasgow in 1824. We’re now a £3.70bn UK business with over 20,000 people, 22 offices and 3,500 student trainees at any one time. I’m incredibly proud of our business and teams and that we continue to be a significant source of growth and investment for the UK.”

Investing in talent, technology and audit quality

Over the last financial year, EY recruited 2,400 people across the UK, with 43% of all new appointments based outside of London. Since January 2024, the firm has also welcomed 1,600 graduates, school leavers and interns with 46% based in regional locations. This year, EY also achieved an Ofsted rating of Outstanding across all aspects of its Level 7 Accountancy and Taxation Apprenticeship in England.

In September last year, EY announced a US$1.4bn investment globally in new AI technology with the launch of an artificial intelligence (AI) platform – EY.ai – alongside the roll out of EYQ, a Large Language Model. EYQ has received over 13m visits globally from EY people since its launch at the end of last year, with over 15,000 unique users in the UK. Since then, EY has also launched AI Labs in the UK – a new cross-business team to support clients as they adopt and enhance their use of AI technologies. Over 14,000 EY people across the UK have also completed learning and development courses related to AI in the last financial year.

The delivery of consistent high-quality audits also remains a priority for EY. The firm has made significant investments in its processes, people and technology and continues to implement new tools, resources and training to ensure there is greater standardisation across EY audits. Globally, new assurance technology capabilities, including advanced data analytics and AI, enhance EY’s approach and drive more consistent execution across the business.

EY’s UK audit revenues grew 14% in FY24. EY currently audits 24 of the FTSE 100 and 79 of the FTSE 350, as well as a large number of private businesses and public sector bodies.

Investing in our communities

Over the last financial year, the EY Foundation – EY’s independent charity – has supported 3,471 young people, worked with 322 employers, and created 3,268 volunteering opportunities. Working across the country, the Foundation brings young people from low-income backgrounds and employers together by delivering paid employability skills programmes. The Foundation celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year and has supported over 24,000 young people since the charity was created in 2014.

EY Ripples – the firm’s corporate responsibility programme – has also contributed to a range of projects that positively impacted around 5.6m lives through the support of over 4,400 EY volunteers.

Anna Anthony, EY UK & Ireland Regional Managing Partner - elect comments: “In a challenging market, I’m proud that we’ve maintained our focus on the things that really matter – our people, our clients and the communities in which we operate. These long-term investments mean we are well positioned for the future and able to capitalise on the opportunities that come with an improving global macro-economic outlook.

“We’ve had a solid start to the first quarter of our new financial year, with an improving deals market benefitting our Strategy and Transactions business in particular. We expect to see this momentum continue to build as we go through the year.”