EY's U.K. firm is planning cost-cuts and steeling itself for staff departures following the firm's failed attempt to split its audit and consulting businesses, according to the Financial Times.
The firm's U.K. managing partner for financial services Anna Anthony told partners on a call Wednesday that "we have inefficiencies in our business which we can start to address now so we are already working on reducing our costs."
The failure of the breakup, codenamed Project Everest, will make cost-cutting a part of the U.K. firm's plan for its new financial year, which starts in July, she said.
Anthony said that the costs of the shelved project reached $600 million at a global level, which included $300 million of internal costs for work done by EY's own staff, according to the FT. That amount was offset by $400 million saved by delaying or deferring other projects.
EY's U.S. business is embarking on a $500 million cost-saving program over the next 12 months, according to a memo sent to partners after the split was shelved.
In the U.K. call, a recording of which was shared with the Financial Times, U.K. chair Hywel Ball also said that staff departures might increase, with some of those who had waited to see the outcome of the transaction now expected to leave.
No details of what the U.K. cuts would entail were shared on the call, according to the FT.
