EY’s UK bosses prepare to cut costs after split plan is ditched
EY’s UK bosses are reportedly discussing cost-cutting measures after the firm dropped its plan to separate its consulting and audit divisions earlier this week.
EY’s global executive committee announced on Tuesday that it had ditched the plan, known as ‘Project Everest’, following opposition from its US unit.
According to a recording of an internal call that took place on Wednesday, reported by the Financial Times, the firm’s UK bosses warned that cuts were coming.
Anna Anthony, UK managing partner for financial services, said: “We have inefficiencies in our business, which we can start to address now.”
“We are already working on reducing our costs”, she added, according to the report, without giving any further details of what the cuts would entail.
Anthony, who admitted to feeling “disappointed and embarrassed” by the failure of the split, said that EY globally had spent $600m (£479m) on the project, including $300m for work done by EY’s own staff.
EY UK had racked up only an extra £10m of its own costs, Anthony said.
UK chair Hywel Ball told partners on the same call that EY’s brand had been damaged by the debacle, saying partners should prepare for “a bit of a tough period”.
The FRC was “disappointed, but supportive and understanding” that EY’s planned break-up was not going ahead, he said.
EY declined to comment on the report.