PwC UK’s revenue growth flattened this year as the Big Four accounting firm acknowledged “tough” job cuts amid a marked slowdown from the buoyant expansion of the past three years.
PwC said on Wednesday that total revenue for the UK firm, which includes its Middle East operations, rose 0.4 per cent to £6.35 billion (€7.3 billion) in the year to June 2025. Growth for the same period over the previous three years had hovered between 9 per cent and 16 per cent.
It said it had cut jobs, without giving figures, after taking the “tough decision to reduce roles in some areas”, while spending on pay and promotions was “in line” with last year. PwC’s figures show it employed about 33,700 staff in the year to June, down from 36,000 the previous year.
Its near-1,000 UK partners took home an average of £865,000 this year, broadly flat with last year’s £862,000 and down from a record £920,000 in 2022.
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The results kick off the reporting season for the Big Four firms – which also include Deloitte, EY and KPMG – and come at a turbulent time for the professional services sector. Firms have been forced to contend with a prolonged market slowdown, affecting consulting projects most acutely, following a pandemic-era boom in demand.
The wider professional services sector is also confronting technological changes and a rising number of challenger boutique firms.
Revenue growth at PwC’s large Middle East practice flattened significantly to 0.4 per cent, compared with a 26 per cent rise in the previous year. In last year’s annual report, the firm had assumed “robust” revenue growth for the region for both 2025 and 2026.
PwC’s broader Middle East footprint had allowed it to beat the other Big Four firms’ revenue growth by a wide margin last year.
The firm was affected by a slowdown in lucrative Saudi Arabian consulting projects this year, which had accounted for a large portion of the Middle East business’s revenues, as well as a temporary ban imposed by the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
PwC’s consulting and risk advisory units each contracted about 3 per cent in the UK due to “tougher market conditions”. Its audit and deals divisions made £1.5 billion and £1 billion respectively, up 0.3 per cent and 3.7 per cent each, while its tax practice led the way with 6 per cent growth.
The firm said “considered cost management” and “operational transformation” allowed overall profits to rise to £1.37 billion, after a 14 per cent decline to £1.14bn last year.
Marco Amitrano, PwC senior partner, said: “Against a challenging macro backdrop, we’ve shown resilience and taken decisive steps to position our business for sustainable growth that meets the interests and expectations of all our stakeholders. While headwinds remain, improving market sentiment is creating a stronger pipeline across our multidisciplinary portfolio.”
Amitrano took over as senior partner in July last year after winning a three-way race. His strategy has included a focus on protecting profitability from rising costs: a record number of partners departed in 2024, the firm introduced a new job title as an alternative path to becoming an equity partner, and cut 175 junior auditors while warning staff that pay rises would be lower this year.
Amitrano also oversaw a rebrand in April and the biggest overhaul of PwC’s UK business in years, creating a stand-alone technology and artificial intelligence unit, and reorganising other service lines. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
