Partner promotions at Big Four fall to five-year low

Partner promotions at the Big Four accounting firms in the UK have reportedly dropped to their lowest level in five years, as Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC move to protect profits amid weakening demand for consulting services, according to analysis by the Financial Times.

The firms promoted 179 UK partners for the 2025 cycle, down from a peak of 276 in 2022. Deloitte and PwC made their smallest number of promotions in five years and EY elevated less than half its 2022 total, while KPMG increased numbers after ending a multiyear pause.

The four groups have reportedly been seeking to safeguard profits for their roughly 3,000 equity partners, including by limiting senior promotions as advisory revenues slow. Other measures include reducing pay rises and bonuses and making redundancies.

According to the Financial Times, the firms expanded hiring and promotions during the pandemic surge in demand, a period that has now unwound, constraining revenue growth and prompting cost cuts.

Deloitte promoted 60 people to partner this year, compared with 124 in 2022. The firm now has nearly 800 equity partners but does not break out equity and non-equity numbers in its promotion data. PwC named 40 equity partners, almost half its 2022 figure, bringing its total to 1,024. EY added 34 equity partners, down from 74 in 2022, reducing its total to below 800. KPMG promoted 45 people in its main October round, following 42 last year, taking its partnership to about 460.

It comes as Deloitte reported its first annual revenue decline in 15 years in September, while PwC said growth had flattened. EY reported a 2% rise in what it described as a “challenging market”. KPMG has not yet published its 2025 results but posted a 1% revenue increase last year after 9% growth in 2023.

Despite the slowdown, average partner payouts have increased across the firms, reaching record highs of £816k at KPMG and more than £1m at Deloitte.

KPMG promoted almost no one to equity partner between 2021 and 2023, a period in which chief executive Jon Holt overhauled the business following reputational difficulties. It also cut senior roles in 2023, leaving its partnership at its smallest in more than two decades.

Overall equity partner numbers across the four firms have fallen for the first time in five years. The total had been rising by about 80 partners annually between 2021 and 2024 but has now dropped by a similar amount to about 3,050.

Deloitte, EY and KPMG have introduced a salaried partner tier, widely seen as a way of retaining senior staff without granting equity stakes. PwC, which continues to operate an equity-only partnership, last year created a managing director title to retain senior employees it does not plan to admit to the partnership.

Laura Empson, professor of management at Bayes Business School, told the Financial Times: “It is not simply a question of whether potential partners are capable of generating enough work this year to justify their promotion, but whether they will generate a substantial stream of income for the foreseeable future – and right now the future is particularly hard to foresee.”

KPMG, EY, Deloitte and PwC have been approached for comments.