Business

Biggest pay hike in a decade for Deloitte partners - despite audit criticisms

Deloitte will become the main occupier of the Bedford Square development in Belfast city centre
Deloitte will become the main occupier of the Bedford Square development in Belfast city centre Deloitte will become the main occupier of the Bedford Square development in Belfast city centre

PARTNERS at accountancy giant Deloitte are set for a pay hike this year, despite heavy scrutiny over the quality of its audit work.

The firm's partners will receive their biggest payday in a decade after their total pay-out rose by 6 per cent on last year.

Deloitte's 669 equity partners are to be handed an average profit share of £882,000 for the year to May 31, up from £832,000 over the same period last year.

The company said it benefited from a one-off gain following the sale of an investment, declining provisioning charges and currency gains.

Distributable pre-tax profits grew to £617 million for the year as it was buoyed by the weakness in the pound.

Deloitte said UK revenues, which also included fees from its Swiss division, jumped 10.9 per cent to £3.97 billion.

The firm's audit and risk advisory division saw revenues rise 8.1 per cent to £1.1 billion, while its consulting revenues rose 9 per cent to £952 million.

Meanwhile, financial advisory revenues increased 10.5 per cent to £507 million while tax and legal reported a 17.8 per cent revenue increase to £862 million.

The company said it benefited over the year from investment outside of London and "long-term investment in audit quality".

Earlier this year Deloitte in Belfast revealed that it has selected McAleer & Rushe’s new development on Bedford Street as the location for its Northern Ireland head office.

The £85 million Bedford Square scheme, which is centred around the regeneration and refurbishment of the Ewart Building, is set to house 1,000 staff by 2022 and will be Deloitte’s largest UK office by headcount outside of London.

Deloitte is taking 100,000 sq ft of office space and will become the anchor tenant in Bedford Square, located across the street from the firm's existing office on Bedford Street and half a mile from its technology studio in The Gasworks.

Staff in both offices will move to the new building once construction work is complete.