Pure diamonds?
The first code of ethical, social and environmental practices for the global jewellery industry comes into effect in January 2008. Teresa Fabian reveals the firm's role.
'Back in 2001, one of our clients – a major jewellery retailer – was concerned that ethical problems in the supply chain might damage the image of diamonds and the jewellery industry. Our study revealed that significant risk existed, ranging from the environmental impact of mining to labour standards. We were invited to present the results to the board of Jewelers of America, the US industry trade body, which unanimously committed to taking action to promote responsible practices within the industry.
'This led to the creation of The Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices in 2005. We acted as the council's secretariat, led the development of its code of practice, facilitated stakeholder engagement and developed governance structures and high-level implementation processes until a transition to permanent staff was completed. It now has over 70 members spanning the gold and diamond supply chain from mine to retail.
'I'm tremendously proud of what we have achieved, and I still have some great friendships from the project. I don’t think it’s too dramatic to say this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.'
What we do
Our clients include public and private companies, central and local Government, lenders and private equity houses, private individuals and not-for-profit organisations.
Assurance and regulatory reporting
Statutory audit, financial accounting, non-financial performance and reporting, regulatory compliance, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) conversion, assurance on capital market transactions, risk assurance services, including internal audit, controls optimisation, independent controls and process assurance.
Tax
Corporate tax advisory, tax on transactions, transfer pricing, corporate and international tax structuring, finance and treasury, indirect taxes, tax management and accounting services, tax investigations, corporate tax compliance and outsourcing, private business tax advisory, personal tax advisory and compliance, tax valuations, environmental taxes and regulation, research and development tax relief.
Performance improvement consulting
Revenue growth, including managing convergence, regulated sales forces, channel management and product profitability, strategic cost management, including low cost sourcing, supply chain and IT value, finance transformation, including treasury, risk management, corporate performance management and shared services, outsourcing advisory and ongoing management, managing the people agenda and regulatory compliance.
Business recovery
Advising on transaction and underperformance issues, including refinancing, restructuring, pension scheme funding, corporate simplification, working capital management, crisis and stakeholder management, independent business reviews, interim management and insolvency and solutions for discontinued insurance and long-tail liability issues.
Transaction services
Bid support and defence, deal strategy, buy and sell side financial and operational due diligence, commercial and market due diligence, post-merger integration, structuring, sale and purchase agreements and business modelling.
Corporate finance
Mergers and acquisitions advisory, private equity advisory, initial public offerings, project finance and public private partnerships, public to private valuations and debt advisory.
Human resource services
Reward and compensation, employment services, pensions and retirement, international assignment solutions, HR management, including HR transaction advice, human capital metrics and benchmarking, HR function effectiveness and service delivery.
Actuarial
Mergers and acquisitions, capital structuring, financial modelling, predictive modelling, insolvencies and run-off solutions, regulatory, including treating customers fairly, risk and capital management, underwriting and catastrophe modelling, claims, reinsurance, insurance reserving and reporting, pensions and other benefit plans, performance benchmarking and insurance needs for the public sector.
Forensic services
Anti-money laundering, capital projects, commercial disputes, forensic technology solutions, investigations, insurance claims, intellectual property, international arbitration, licensing management, securities litigation, transaction and shareholder disputes.
Sustainability and climate change
Impact reviews, strategic and performance planning, corporate governance and business ethics, policy development and roll-out, risk management, carbon markets planning and transactions, environmental tax and regulation, environmental health and safety management, ethical supply chain management, reporting and assurance of non-financial information and waste and resource use management.
How we measure ourselves
Our ambition is to be the distinctive UK professional services firm.
We are committed to helping our clients, our people and our communities.
Our aim is to be the acknowledged leader in all our chosen markets, both in terms of our work for clients and the values by which we live. Quality and integrity lie at the heart of what we do, be it in creating, delivering and adding value for our clients or fulfilling our public interest responsibilities through rigorous and independent auditing.
To achieve our goals we need to have the right people. So we seek to attract, recruit and invest in the most capable and innovative people, create an environment in which they can develop to their full potential, and nurture their knowledge and experience. We then strive to connect all these attributes and share our collective expertise for the benefit of our clients.
We recognise our impact on society, the economy and the environment. We also acknowledge our responsibilities to the wider communities in which we operate and the global PricewaterhouseCoopers network. We are committed to enhancing and protecting our brand and reputation. This not only means communicating openly and transparently, but also investing in our infrastructure and technology to ensure they continue to support the changing needs of our clients and our people.
Our aim is to maintain quality earnings that are proportionate to the risks we encounter in our business while also providing adequate resources for investment and reward for all our people.
All the services we provide are underpinned by our governance and management structures.
How we performed
We maintained our market-leading position in 2007.
We continued to bring real value to our clients, invest in our people, support our local communities, shape our industry, build trust and enhance value.
- Audit services grew 8%; non-audit services to audit clients declined 4% due to Sarbanes-Oxley tail-off
- Services to non-audit clients grew 10%
- Turnover split 49:51 between audit and non-audit clients
- Strong growth in Tax, Human Resource Services, Transaction Services and Performance Improvement Consulting
- Voted number one graduate employer for fourth year running
- 65 partners admitted
- More than 3,000 people recruited
- Emerging Leaders Programme launched
- Top status in the BitC Corporate Responsibility Index
- Became carbon neutral
- Over 25,000 hours devoted to regulatory training
- 89% of waste diverted away from landfill
- Total community contribution £5.9m (cash, time and in-kind support)
- Turnover up 6% to £2.1billion; underlying net revenue up 9%
- Average staff numbers up 3%; staff reward up 9%
- Landmark new premises secured at 7 More London
- Underlying average profit per partner up 6% to £757,000