Ernst & Young UK partners scoop average £700,000 pay as revenues hit £2bn

Profits available for distribution among the senior staff in London and across the UK were also up 6 per cent to £437 million.

The average payout of £700,000 was slightly down on the previous year because 95 new equity partners were appointed.

Growth was not as fast in the UK as some other places particularly in developing nations with EY reporting annual global revenues of $28.7bn (£19bn), an increase of nearly 12 per cent.

EY said it was creating thousands of British jobs, giving it a UK headcount of 14,000.

EY’s UK chairman, Steve Varley, said: “I am very proud of the jobs that we have created this year, especially as we continue to provide more opportunities for school leavers as well as experienced hires and new graduates.

“We have recruited over 4,500 people in the UK to fuel our growth and we plan to continue this level of investment as part of our ongoing global growth strategy.”

The services company said almost a third of the 95 new equity partners taken on this year were women and 11 per cent came from ethnic minorities.

EY said it was “very positive” about the health of the British economy, and was pleased to have won new work as auditors for the BBC, RBS and Shell as well as Sainsbury’s and the Co-operative Bank.