Turnover

Turnover increased by 10 per cent in 2006/07, on top of the 54 per cent growth over the previous two years, giving us total national turnover, including our Belfast firm which operates under a licence, of £317.4m.

Operating costs

We have continued to increase our investment, focused on people – both directly through recruiting and developing staff and partners, and indirectly through spending on high quality new offices and other infrastructure. Staff costs rose by 19 per cent as we increased total headcount from 2,845 to 3,183. Property costs, including investment in new and expanded premises, rose by 20 per cent and other costs remained at similar levels as we continued to strengthen infrastructure generally. Overall, costs increased by 13 per cent to £225.8m.

Profit

Despite the substantial increase in investment, profit before members’ remuneration and profit shares grew by 4 per cent to £72.5m. Although margins have reduced slightly on the previous year, we believe it is in our interests – and those of our clients – to make the necessary investments to ensure we are the UK’s accountancy firm of choice.

Assets

Net assets increased from £75.9m to £81.4m. Debtors increased by £9.7m. Our key performance indicators for working capital management are work in progress and debtor days, which we maintained at similar levels to last year.