Deloitte books £2bn with reputation 'overhauling' rivals

Deloitte’s reputation in the market may have already surpassed that of the UK’s biggest firm, its chairman said this week as it emerged that Deloitte had scraped past its target of £2bn in revenues this year.

John Connolly, who set the ‘2in2’ target ­ - £2bn of revenues in two years ­ - in 2006, denied Deloitte was focused on overtaking PricewaterhouseCoopers, but said: ‘Maybe we have overhauled them already in terms of our standing in the market place.’

Accountancy Age reported in May that Deloitte would go through the landmark £2bn figure.

Hundreds of Deloitte partners met at the Park Lane Hilton on Wednesday to hear Connolly reveal that the firm would pass the £2bn figure by just £10m for the year ending 31 May 2008, meaning year on year growth of 11.5%. The figure is down on the previous year’s 15.6%, but will be considered an excellent performance in the current economic climate.

‘I have been saying, with some confidence, growth is not at double-digit levels, so to achieve the growth we have requires a superior performance to our competitors. We genuinely do not seek to be larger than other firms, we seek to be the highest regarded,’he said.

He added that Deloitte had been ‘relentless’ in its focus on clients. Growth is understood to have come across the service lines with audit performing well, consulting rising 13% and corporate finance booking a 12% improvement. Deloitte will reward all 12,000 employees with a £1,000 ‘thank you’ .

Deloitte closes in on top spot as £2bn barrier stands ready to fall