CEO Foreword

Richard Houston, Senior Partner and CEO, Deloitte UK

FY24 has been a year characterised by change - in government, technology and the markets. But it has also been one of challenge as we, and our clients, operated against a difficult economic and geopolitical backdrop.

Despite this, we produced a strong financial performance. This was in no small part due to the resilience of our multidisciplinary model, with our businesses and industries showing a mixed picture in terms of revenue and profit. But it’s also thanks to our people, who have worked hard throughout the year to support our clients and each other.

Alongside our financial performance, we also made important progress on quality – particularly in our audit business. Audit is the bedrock of our financial system and is key to building confidence in the capital markets and encouraging investment into the UK. This year our Audit Quality Review score from the Financial Reporting Council hit 94% - a reflection of our significant investment in enhancing audit quality – improving technology, training and focusing on culture. 

Inclusive growth throughout the UK

Since the UK General Election in the summer, the new government has emphasised the need to raise the UK’s long term growth rate. While our Q2 CFO survey showed business confidence was returning, alongside an appetite for investment, we’ve seen that cost control remains a key consideration.

We recognise the importance of working with business and government to help create economic growth and prosperity for our communities across the UK. And our firm is in a unique position to do this - with over 27,000 people across our country’s regions and nations and access to a network of expertise across EMEA and beyond.

The scale of our firm and the diversity of skills and experience mean we can make a difference in so many ways. For example, in the past 12 months we’ve been working with businesses to build resilience and create growth through M&A, helped organisations meet net zero targets through energy transition and worked with women’s sport to find new platforms for growth.

We’ve used analytics to support evidence-based decisions in the NHS and used our Growth 35 initiative to create debate and ideas around future catalysts for economic prosperity, from developing green skills to increasing public and private sector partnerships.

Transformation through tech

Technology, especially in the era of Generative AI (Gen AI) is a key driver of progress. That’s why we've invested over £135m this year in innovative technologies, not only to enhance how we serve our clients but also to empower our own people.

We’re working with clients to shape how tech will transform their business - building and delivering new tech solutions, like our work with AstraZeneca, to digitise patient information leaflets, offering big potential benefits for patients, healthcare systems and the planet.

A significant focus for our firm has been building the capabilities of our people and partners in AI, ensuring they have the skills to help clients adapt with digital technology. This includes improving our own in-house GenAI platform – PairD, which we rolled out to 75,000 colleagues across Deloitte in the UK, Europe and Middle East. Crucially, we're also supporting the needs of people on both sides of the digital divide to help make sure no one gets left behind.​

Better futures for people and the planet

Despite the challenging landscape we have continued to invest in our people.

We increased pay and bonuses by 5% (a £260m investment) and invested £360m on learning and development opportunities, alongside opening our state-of-the-art Deloitte University EMEA facility.

When it comes to hybrid working, we’re trusting our people to work where and when they do their best work, including flexing their bank holidays, and taking time off when it matters most.

Having extended free private medical insurance to all our colleagues in FY23, we announced this year that we would equalise paid parenting leave. This means all our new parents will be eligible for 26 weeks’ fully paid leave.

It’s a change that resonates with me both personally and professionally. It demonstrates the value we place on looking after our people during some of the most important moments in their lives, but also our commitment to gender equality in the workplace and society more broadly.

Looking ahead

Undoubtedly, the UK will continue to face some challenging economic circumstances. And like many of our clients, our firm’s focus will be on building resilience, making targeted investments, and ensuring we’re well-positioned to take advantage of the economic recovery expected in the first half of 2025.

I firmly believe that Deloitte has a key role to play in helping business and government deliver the growth the UK needs and creating a more inclusive, prosperous and sustainable future - together.