Deloitte payouts to partners rise as revenues hit record £3.1bn

ACCOUNTING giant Deloitte has posted record revenue of £3.1bn, triggering higher payouts for its legion of partners around the globe.

Revenue shot up 11.2pc last year as every part of the business grew. Deloitte now audits 23pc of the FTSE 100 companies’ accounts, and said it also increased its work on mergers and acquisitions in the 12 months to the end of May 2016.

Other growth areas included risk management, regulatory advice and international tax services.

As a result the average equity partner at the group earned £837,000, up from £822,000 last year, sharing a pot of £608m – up 2.5pc on the year.

The firm’s boss David Sproul said the Brexit vote could slow down economic growth and dent revenues in the shortterm, but he remained upbeat about the longer-term prospects for the UK and his firm. “The early economic indicators suggest the uncertainty created by the Brexit vote will lead to a slowdown in the second half of this year,” he said.

“However, UK businesses are both adaptable and resourceful and the UK remains in the top tier of the world’s most competitive economies, benefit- ting from strong institutions and a highly-skilled workforce.”

One way for the Government to help businesses and to reinforce economic growth would be to keep borders as open as possible, the chief executive said.

“The Government must recognise that further restricting skilled migrants could be detrimental to the UK’s ability to attract global investment and the diverse pool of international talent that has supported our country’s growth,” said Mr Sproul.

“Rights of EU migrants should be protected and any future migration policies should respond to our economic needs rather than be overly focused on total numbers.”

Deloitte hopes to latch on to areas of fast growth by investing in new technologies. “We’ve invested in developing our capability across emerging business disruptors, such as blockchain, crowdsourcing and robotics, working to ensure we can help our clients position their businesses for future growth,” he said.

That includes investing in 30 “disruptive start-ups”, most of which were developed by Deloitte’s own staff. Deloitte hired 1,100 graduates and 200 school-leavers as well as almost 3,000 staff from other firms in the year.