Big Four group EY UK has seen a resurgence as its fee income increased by 2% over the previous financial year to £3.78bn, with most of its divisions witnessing growth.
The company’s pre-tax distributable profits saw an increase of over 3%, rising from £653m in FY24 to £679m, while it also reported that the average distributable profit per partner rose by 9%, from £723,000 to £787,000.
EY recorded a revenue growth of 10% for its strategy and transactions business, 5% for tax, and 3% for assurance, while its financial services and consumer and health sectors were the top performers, growing by 5% and 9% respectively.
However, the firm’s consulting revenues fell by 6%, reflecting tougher trading conditions, as reported by City AM.
Over the past financial year, the firm recruited nearly 2,400 individuals and welcomed 59 new equity partners. This follows the firm’s decision to let go of dozens of senior partners earlier this year and make approximately 150 senior consulting roles redundant in early 2025.
Anna Anthony, EY’s managing partner for the UK & Ireland, said: “While the economic environment remains unpredictable and challenging, we have a clear strategy to drive our business forward and better support our clients.”
Like its Big Four counterparts, EY has maintained a strong focus on technological investment over the past financial year, including a substantial global investment of $1bn (£749m) in audit technology, AI, and advanced data analytics.
In line with this tech-focused strategy, EY unveiled the EY.ai Agentic Platform in March 2025, developed in partnership with NVIDIA, to offer bespoke frameworks for creating and implementing responsible agentic AI solutions for both EY teams and clients.
Furthermore, EY has implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot across its UK operations, boasting over 12,000 users.
Reports suggest that the UK’s Big Four firms are significantly reducing graduate recruitment as artificial intelligence (AI) starts to take over entry-level roles traditionally filled by school leavers and university graduates.
Since January 2024, EY has brought onboard 1,600 graduates, school leavers, and interns. While the firm has not disclosed its most recent figures, it is believed that this year’s numbers align with those of the previous year.
However, a report from June highlighted that KPMG has reduced its graduate opportunities by more than 30 per cent, followed by Deloitte at 18 per cent, and EY and PwC at 11 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
Anne-Marie Balfe, EY strategic talent leader at EY UK and Ireland, previously stated: “The recruitment and retention of top talent at every level of our firm and across all parts of the UK is, and always has been, a strategic imperative for our business and fundamental to the delivery of our growth ambitions.”
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