Global business services firm KPMG is to grow its South West team after helping the UK operation post a pre-tax profit of £436m.
The company, which has bases in Bristol’s Queen Square and at Salt Quay House in Plymouth, stressed recruitment will be key to enabling the firm’s growth in the region and scale up core services.
KPMG’s annual results for the financial year ended September 30, 2021, showed growth of 10%, with revenue rising from £2.14bn to £2.35bn, and profit before tax increasing from £288m to £436m.
Ian Brokenshire, office senior partner for KPMG in the South West, said that despite 2021 being dominated by the Covid pandemic, its 500-strong regional team worked hard to support clients across the South West to continue to adapt to what he called a “challenging landscape”.
“Through our every-day consulting and M&A advisory work, we’ve backed South West companies to realise their growth ambitions and we’re proud of the strength and resilience the region’s business community has shown in difficult circumstances,” he said.
“And despite the ongoing disruption and obstacles our clients are facing, these results show that our support led to one of our best performing years as a firm nationally.
“We experienced strong momentum and growth in the final quarter of 2021, and we expect that to continue in the first half of this year.
“The question mark currently hovering over the second half for South West businesses is how, with things moving so quickly, current challenges around supply chain, climate change, inflation and, of course, Covid-19 will escalate.
“Looking ahead, our aim for the next 12 months is more of the same,” he added. “To help South West businesses succeed, navigate the challenges they are facing, and to be a trusted adviser.
“We’ll continue to work closely with companies on areas including ESG (environmental, social and governance), digitisation and technology investment, supply chain and workforce, and our ambition is to be the fastest growing, best connected and most trusted firm.”
He stressed job creation was a priority and said: “Our South West team is delighted to be advising most of the region’s biggest businesses, and we plan to recruit to expand our support in 2022.
“We will also keep embracing hybrid working and flexibility for our staff, and recruitment will be key to enabling our growth, and us scaling our core services.
“As well as working closely with the South West tech sector, including championing success stories through our Private Enterprise Tech Innovator competition, we also plan to invest heavily in our own technology this year. Finally, the focus on climate change impact and becoming more sustainable will continue to play an increasing role in South West business activity, including our own, throughout 2022.”
KPMG LLP, a limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with about 15,300 partners and staff. KPMG is a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing audit, legal, tax and advisory services. It operates in 145 countries and territories with more than 236,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Ltd is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Ltd and its related entities do not provide services to clients.
