Record revenues of £3.44bn at PwC as Scottish arm grows

PwC in Scotland has reported a 12 per cent jump in annual revenues as part of an 11 per cent rise in UK revenues to a record £3.44 billion at the accountancy and business services giant.

Lindsay Gardiner, regional chairman of PwC Scotland. Picture: Ian Rutherford

In a report out today, PwC reports growth in all business areas in the financial year to end-June “with particular client demand for cyber security, data analytics and technology services”.

The corresponding UK revenues in the previous 12 months were £3.08bn. Group profits increased to £829 million from £818m in the year to June 2015.

Average distributable profit per partner before tax was £706,000, down 5 per cent from £740,000 last year as the overall number of equity partners rose to 926 from 885.

It is the fourth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth for PwC north of the Border as the firm said it “continues to invest heavily in its people, technology and new client services, including SaaS (Software as a Service) and Blockchain/Fin Tech offerings and advice around the implications of the EU referendum result”.

For the UK as a whole it was the second successive year of double-digit growth. PwC Scotland said key wins for the year included being appointed global tax advisors to Scottish emergency power equipment group Aggreko and John Menzies, the airport handling services‑to‑newspaper‑distribution business.

The firm also cited its Scottish cyber-security team “working on multi-million pound projects with a major UK bank and public sector body”, and external audit wins at Virgin Money, engineer Weir Group and fund manager, Aberdeen Asset Management.

PwC Scotland said it was a “particularly strong year” for its deals team, including several North Sea energy sector transactions, and a major asset sale for SSE, owner of Scottish Hydro. The latest financial year also saw PwC acquire Praxism – an Edinburgh-based consultancy specialising in identity and access management – to bolster client offerings in the IT sector.

PwC Scotland also hired former Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore as a “special advisor on devolution matters, including the ramifications of the EU referendum”.

Lindsay Gardiner, regional chairman of PwC Scotland, hailed the fourth year running of double-digit revenue growth as a “fantastic achievement”, partly due to the firm “being able to identify future opportunities and invest in them at an early stage”.

On the impact of the Brexit result of the EU referendum, Gardiner said PwC was 
seeing “increased appetite for strategic advice and support around immigration, trade negotiations and financial services”.

He added that history had shown Scottish businesses “are capable of adapting in the face of change and we are advising our clients to navigate the changing landscape”. PwC employs a total of 21,000.