The New Equation
Building trust and delivering sustained outcomes
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to our 2021 Annual Review. Over the past 18+ months COVID-19 has impacted us all in ways we are still coming to terms with — whether it is the impact on business models, a shift in the nature of work and expectations of our people or the very real and personal suffering that has hit many— whether through loss or the mental health implications of what we have lived through. At PwC, we entered our financial year at an uncertain point in time, where we were anticipating a contraction in our business. It was a point in time where we as partners chose to "double-down" on what makes us who we are - our people. Despite the very real financial challenge we faced, we made it clear from the start that there would be no job losses anywhere arising from COVID-19 and we continued to invest for our future. Our focus was to make it clear that we were all in this together and that together we would face the challenge and come through stronger. Now as I look back at that moment, I am immensely proud of what my partners and our people have achieved, even if I also clearly know that our firm is very lucky to be in the sector it’s in and that many others were impacted much more severely. Financially, we have secured excellent growth across our businesses - landing at a remarkable 5.8% growth in our top-line.
John Parkhouse
Core to our contribution to society is the value we bring to our clients and the opportunity we provide to our People. The results of our business is a key indicator for this.
The fiscal year 2021, spanning from July 2020 to June 2021, has been in all dimensions a very abnormal year. PwC, like the whole business community, has settled into remote working and virtual business conduct for the largest part of its activity. Our financial year was also marked by four major business trends.