Deloitte's Europe, Middle East and Africa chief Richard Houston has received £7.1m for the financial year ending 31 May 2026. The amount is 45% higher than his pay for the previous year, as the firm cuts around 1,000 jobs in the UK.
The main part of the payment is a profit-sharing payment of £5.8m. In addition, Houston received a one-off payment of £1.3m under an incentive programme linked to strategic and financial targets for Deloitte's European business. In June, he took over the company’s new Europe, Middle East and Africa division, which covers more than 80 countries.
93 times median salary
Houston, who previously led Deloitte’s UK business for seven years, is the highest-paid executive at a Big Four accountancy firm in the country. His salary is 93 times the median salary of Deloitte’s UK employees. The ratio was 65 to 1 a year earlier.
The average headcount is expected to fall from 17,264 in 2025 to 15,904 in the 2026 financial year. In June, Deloitte proposed voluntary job cuts of almost 200 positions in its audit business. The company cited low employee turnover as the reason for the move.
“We have decided to offer voluntary redundancy on improved terms to some people in the affected areas. We do not take these decisions lightly and will do everything we can to support employees who consider this option,“ a Deloitte UK spokesman said.Changes to profit distribution
In parallel with the staff reductions, Deloitte has changed the way it distributes profits among partners. The number of contingent shares granted to new partners with ownership in the firm has been reduced from 100 to 80. However, the share of ownership partners has increased from 54% in 2025 to almost 60%.
Revenue of Deloitte's UK and Swiss divisions increased by 2% to £5.81 billion. Profit increased by 14% to £899 million. Deloitte is part of the Big Four of audit firms along with PwC, EY and KPMG.
Sources: rbc.ru, cityam.com, ft.com