PwC breaks 1,000 employee barrier in Scotland

Big Four audit and advisory firm PwC has seen its headcount surpass 1,000 employees in Scotland, following a 13.4% hike in graduate recruitment numbers over the summer. With demand for digital transformation and preparation advice, PwC brought on-board almost 100 graduates before September 2019.

Scotland has become a major point of interest as the consulting industry looks to broaden its revenues across the UK. Though the largest professional services players are often typecast as having a myopic obsession with the big money clients in London, they have recently shown an increased appetite for northward expansion. At the start of 2019, this saw PwC announce plans for its largest ever recruitment drive north of Hadrian’s Wall, as it sought to complete a 15% expansion of its headcount there.

As part of a major push across the UK, PwC now employs more than 10,000 staff outside London and is planning to invest £140 million in the year ahead in people, quality, training, technology and up-skilling. Part of that process also saw PwC name a new head of its Scotland operations in August, in the form of Claire Reid. Replacing outgoing Lindsay Gardiner, Reid became the firm's first female regional leader in Scotland, having joined PwC's Glasgow office 20 years ago. Gardiner brought her background in technology and digital change to the role, something which is key to the firm’s future ambitions in the country.

Thanks to its push to boost operations in Scotland, PwC has now announced that it has broken the 1,000 employee mark there, due to a 13.4% boom in graduate recruitment numbers over the Summer. The almost 100 graduate recruits will start their careers with the professional services firm in September, across all  three Scottish offices, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen – which is also home to PwC’s Oil & Gas Centre of Excellence. The majority of the firm’s staff in Scotland are based between Edinburgh and Glasgow, employing 524 and 405 respectively, with a further 120 based in Aberdeen.

The jobs boost comes as PwC UK experienced higher than expected growth over its financial year, while clients across the country seek help tackling uncertainty, risk and the need for digital transformation ahead of Brexit, an economic slowdown and rising competition. In Scotland, growth was concentrated on areas of key focus for the firm, including private business and international markets.

Claire Reid, Regional Leader for PwC in Scotland, remarked, “Reaching a headcount of 1,000 in Scotland marks a real milestone for PwC, and with so many new graduates joining a number of experienced hires, we are in a strong position going into our 2020 financial year. There continues to be a high demand for our core services across Scotland, in particular for technology-related solutions. Against a challenging political and economic backdrop which continues to be dominated by Brexit our performance reflects our commitment to delivering for and supporting our clients and making continual investment in our people and our business.”