KPMG records a second year of strong growth and invests back into its business

The partnership is a global first and sees the University of Cambridge bring together researchers from different disciplines to better understand the factors that affect mental wellbeing at work. It will show how different kinds of supports can boost individual mental wellbeing, enhance productivity and promote a healthy workforce for the future.   

KPMG will open its doors to Cambridge researchers, who will assess the effectiveness of the mental wellbeing initiatives the firm currently offers to its UK employees. This will develop an evidence base of what works and how new support measures can be developed and evaluated to meet employees’ future needs. The firm will use these insights to invest in and evolve its package of mental wellbeing support. 

Investing in its people

The firm’s strong performance enabled it to invest heavily in its people, promoting 2,649 employees, appointing 129 new partners and hiring 3,638 people and 1,012 graduates and apprentices. 

KPMG continued to review and enhance the benefits and support it offers to its people, introducing a new benefits package to support colleagues going through the menopause. The package provides all colleagues access to a menopause trained GP and personalised care plan, as well as 24/7 access to a menopause trained nurse. To support wellbeing, the firm continued its popular ‘Jump Start’ programme, where over the summer months employees are encouraged to finish at lunchtime on Fridays, or on another day of their choosing.  

Investing in communities

The firm invested further in its outreach to drive social mobility and tackle disadvantage in communities across the UK, through providing literacy, numeracy and lifelong learning programmes and individual mentoring.  

More than 6,000 KPMG employees volunteered over the year and supported more than 64,000 people. Volunteers tutored young people, read with school children to boost their literacy skills and ran employability and skills development programmes in schools. A highlight of the year was celebrating National Numeracy Day’s fifth milestone. KPMG co-founded the campaign in 2018 with the charity National Numeracy and over five years the campaign has grown exponentially. Through convening nearly 5,000 organisations; research; an innovative communications campaign; free practical resources; and volunteering, National Numeracy Day 2022 inspired people to take over 450,000 actions to improve their numeracy – five times that of 2021. 

KPMG was named Business of the Year at the Business Charity Awards in 2022 and was awarded the Consortium Award for its work with the National Literacy Trust’s Vision for Literacy Business Pledge. 

The firm supported Marie Curie, providing nearly £500,000 worth of support to the charity through fundraising and pro bono work. KPMG has extended its partnership with Marie Curie for a further year, to support the charity as it navigates the cost-of-living crisis.  

KPMG was also recognised by CDP, a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies and regions, as a leader in corporate transparency and performance on climate change, securing a place on its ‘A List.’ Based on data reported through CDP’s 2022 Climate Change questionnaire, KPMG is one of a small number of companies (283) that achieved an ‘A’ rating out of nearly 15,000 companies scored. KPMG has also been recognised as a CDP supply chain leader. 

Driving inclusion and equity

The firm also published the most extensive ‘progression gap’ analysis ever undertaken by a business. For the study, experts from the Bridge Group analysed the career paths of over 16,500 partners and employees at KPMG over a five-year period. The team examined the average time it took individuals to be promoted, looking at their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation as well as socio-economic background. 

The data showed that socio-economic background, measured by parental occupation, had the strongest effect on an individual’s career progression, compared to any other diversity characteristic. Individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds took, on average, 19% longer to progress to the next grade, when compared to those from higher socio-economic backgrounds. 

The study is the latest advancement by KPMG to deepen understanding of social inequalities in the workplace, while sharing its insights with the wider business community.  The firm has published an action plan to address the findings, which includes reviewing its approach to work allocation and launching a new promotion readiness programme to support talented individuals from historically underrepresented groups. 

Jon Holt said: “This study is pioneering in its scope, and I hope adds value and rigour to the debate around social mobility. As a firm these insights are enabling us to take targeted action and we are publishing our findings so other organisations can use them as a blueprint to measure and address barriers in their own businesses.

“Talking about socio-economic background is complex and emotive. It requires all of us to confront how our upbringing shapes the opportunities we have access to later in life. But as leaders we need to lean into this discomfort and take action if we are to drive greater equality in business.”

Key points from the 2022 annual results:

• The firm posted growth of 16%, with revenue rising from £2.35bn to £2.72bn* and profit before tax increasing from £436m to £449m. 
• The firm has 786 partners and 16,036 employees.** 
• The firm’s colleagues are: 49% women; 30% are from an ethnic minority background; 6% are Black Heritage; 4% are Lesbian, Gay, Bi; 8% have a disability or a long-term condition and 21% are from a lower socio-economic background. 
• 22% of KPMG UK’s board are from an ethnic minority background, 22% are from a lower socio-economic background and 44% of the board are women.  
• KPMG UK’s Executive Committee is 55% female and 20% are from a lower socio-economic background. 
• Total tax paid and collected totalled £1.01bn to HMRC. 
• Average partner reward increased from £688k to £757k.*** 
• Bina Mehta, Chair of KPMG, received total remuneration of £1.292m. 
• Jon Holt, Chief Executive of KPMG, received total remuneration of £2.72m. 
• KPMG UK’s gender pay gap for colleagues and partners reduced by 2.6 percentage points to 20.9% (median) and reduced by 4.9 percentage points to 32.1% (mean). These figures include both employees and partners. 
• KPMG remains one of the most popular employers in the UK. It is listed in the Top 10 of LinkedIn's best workplaces to grow your career 2022 and featured in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women for the 12th consecutive year. 
• The firm also ranked in the top three Social Mobility Employer Index compiled by the Social Mobility Foundation, Social Mobility Commission and the City of London Corporation, for the sixth consecutive year. 

Notes to Editor:

* Revenue figures exclude revenue from the firm’s Restructuring business. Including trading from the Restructuring business, the firm posted a 12% rise in revenue from £2.43bn to £2.72bn. 

Profit figures exclude the disposal of the firm’s Restructuring business in FY21 and the disposal of KPMG Crimsonwing BV in FY22. 

**This number represents the spot headcount on 1st October 2022. 

*** Partners received an average profit distribution of £717k, with an additional £40,000 (gross equivalent) allocated to their capital account. 

Zoe Sheppard, KPMG UK 

zoe.sheppard@kpmg.co.uk / 07770737994 

About KPMG UK

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 20 offices across the UK with approximately 17,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a revenue of £2.72 billion in the year ended 30 September 2022.  

KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Legal, Tax and Advisory services. It operates in 143 countries and territories with more than 265,000 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 Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.