Ernst & Young surpasses £2bn revenue barrier

Ernst & Young has seen an 8 percent growth in fee income for the twelve months up to 3 July 2015, an increase on the previous figure of £1.9bn.

Distributable profits grew by 6 percent, increasing up to £437m from £412m. However, the average distributable profit per partner actually fell from £727,000 to £7000,000.

New recruits

It wasn't just fees and finances that increased for the Big 4 firm, as over 4,500 people were also recruited in 2014/15. Of these, 95 were new equity partners, of which over a third were women.

E&Y UK chairman, Steve Varley, commented: "I am very proud of the jobs that we have created this year, especially as we continue to provide more opportunities for school leavers as well as experienced hires and new graduates."

A new site in London's Canary Wharf has also been opened, and most of the firm's 21 offices have benefited from refurbishment.

Divisions

Assurance revenues hit £585m, an increase of 6.4%, which came about in some part due to the acquisition of new audit clients including the BBC, Sainsbury's, Royal Dutch Shell and Co-operative Bank.

The division also saw growth driven by financial accounting and forensic services. Other strong sectors included insurance, financial services, and wealth and asset management.

"We had several fantastic audit wins in FY15, which not only reflect our continued investment in improving quality but also the significant investment we have made into digital analytics and real-time assurance. We continue to invest in the same areas as last year - fraud investigation technology, corporate integrity and cyber security," Varley explained.