Building tomorrow’s firm today: our FY19 results

Today we’ve announced our results. Our revenues to 30 September increased by 3%, driven by growth in our deal advisory, audit and tax businesses. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved in a year of unprecedented investment for our firm.

This is a time of change and upheaval – for our business, our sector, our clients and broader society. For our firm, it’s also time of reflection: on our purpose, how we operate and how we prepare for a very different future.

Addressing the challenges ahead requires courage, focus and significant resources. That’s why over the past 12 months, we’ve been investing in our people, our processes, and in the technology we need to deliver new kinds of solutions for clients. These investments are reshaping our firm and the way we work.

Investing in people, processes and technology

We’ve undertaken a comprehensive overhaul of our audit practice, reappraising what it does and how it interacts with the rest of the business. That’s meant big investment in our capability to deliver the audit of the future. We’ve hired more than 700 experienced auditors, and 1,000 graduates and apprentices. Our overall investment in audit quality in 2019 was ￡45m.

We’ve invested in the kinds of solutions our clients are calling for. Our advisory business is increasingly winning long-term, multi-year contracts that deal with the most complex areas of our clients’ businesses. These solutions have demanded significant up-front investment, but we now have a strong base on which to build.

We’ve established major new hubs in Glasgow and Leeds. We’ve invested in a national technology innovation hub in Manchester. And we will soon open a parallel innovation centre in London, where we’re spending ￡7m transforming two floors of our Canary Wharf headquarters.

Moving the firm forward

We made important progress this year in making our firm more equal and more inclusive. Our new UK Board appointments mean that we have an equal number of men and women at the very top of our firm. It’s a first for our firm, and a first for our industry too. There was also gender parity both in the new partners we promoted and those we hired externally.

There’s no doubt in my mind that we have more to do to make our firm a place where no-one’s career is impeded by their gender, ethnicity, identity or background. But these small steps we’ve made are significant.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve helped more people than ever before through our corporate responsibility work, with over 30,000 people receiving help to boost vital employability skills. Our people have given their time and their skills generously.

I feel incredibly proud of the thousands of people who come to work at KPMG every day. We build this firm together, and we’re setting ourselves us up well for the future.

We’re marking 150 years of KPMG in the UK in 2020. That’s 150 years of our people – starting with William Barclay Peat – supporting the UK and helping it grow. It’s an exciting time to be part of our firm.

You can explore our Annual Review, including our Results, our Transparency Report and our Pay-gap Report here.

Bill Michael

UK Chair & Senior Partner