Yorkshire deals help to drive growth at Deloitte

The business advisory firm saw a £340m increase in its revenues in the year to May 31, the seventh consecutive year it has posted growth, with a number of large scale deals handled by its Yorkshire operations helping to drive its performance.

Deloitte’s Financial Advisory team in Yorkshire advised on 22 transactions with a combined value in excess of £2.2bn, including the £750m sale of Zenith Vehicle Holdings, the £326m sale of Gardner Aerospace, the £61m sale of Aflex Hose and the sale of Contract Vehicle Holdings (CVL).

Distributable profit for the firm at large in 2017 was flat year-on-year at £608m and average profit per equity partner was £865,000, something the firm attributed to investment in personnel.

In total more than 3,500 people were recruited in the last financial year, including more than 1,600 school leavers, interns and graduates.

Overall revenues increased from £3,040m to £3,380m.

Martin Jenkins, practice senior partner for Yorkshire and the North East at Deloitte, said: “Our practice has performed well this year, with strong growth in tax, financial advisory and consulting, as well as some prominent audit wins, such as FTSE-listed Fenner.

“We are proud to act for some of the most innovative, respected and thriving organisations across the region.”

The Tax Team in Yorkshire advised on more than 50 transactions across corporate M&A, private company disposals and private equity investments.

Meanwhile the firm’s national Global Employer Services practice, which has a strong presence in Yorkshire, led by partner Helen Kaye, won the ‘Best Tax Team in a Big 4 Firm’ award at the 2017 Tolley’s Taxation Awards.

Mirroring the firm’s national picture, consulting growth was driven by demand for technology-enabled business transformation, while risk advisory was led by increased interest in supplier risk, cyber and regulatory advice.

David Sproul, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte, said: “This is a good performance in a complex and uncertain market which has been impacted by Brexit and the elections in the US and UK.

“Consulting has continued to see significant demand for technology-enabled business transformation and there has been further strong growth in Deloitte Digital, our creative digital consultancy.

“The firm won a series of major audits this year, including BAE Systems, BP, Centrica and GlaxoSmithKline which has taken our share of the FTSE 100 audit market to 26 per cent and we saw further success in the FTSE 250, private and international markets. Our Risk Advisory business has seen increasing demand for supplier risk, cyber and regulatory advice.

“Growth in tax was driven by the global tax reset, Brexit and the possibility of US tax reform, alongside continued demand for technology-enabled compliance services.

“Financial Advisory advised on 87 M&A deals last year with a total value of more than £7bn and we advised on 38 per cent of main market IPOs.

“We have continued to invest through this year of uncertainty and that investment in our people, in winning market share and in building market leading solutions has resulted in flat distributable profits.”

Deloitte’s practice across Yorkshire and the North East now employs over 700 people.