Client service delivery

We have strong controls in place regarding the way in which we market and sell our services. Our prime considerations are our Code of Conduct, our reputation and the regulatory environment within which we work.

The code stipulates that:

• We offer only those services we can deliver and strive to deliver no less than our commitments
• We deliver professional services in accordance with PwC policies and relevant technical and professional standards
• We compete vigorously, engaging only in practices that are legal and ethical
• We meet our contractual obligations and report and charge honestly for our services.

We have formal controls in place that review potential new work against these and other criteria to ensure that we behave in accordance with our code. This includes a Bids Committee that specifically reviews ethical issues, and our own ability (in terms of both skills and resources) to deliver a proposed assignment.

We actively monitor our success in meeting our clients’ expectations in our service delivery, both for specific assignments, through our client satisfaction programme, and on a broader basis through our Independent Senior Partner Review process. Against our overall target score of eight out of ten, the average score from the 2,819 client satisfaction returns received was 8.25, an improvement on the previous two years.

In terms of the regulatory framework within which much of our business takes place we have a stringent set of compliance rules, which are supported by appropriate business systems, and fully embedded across all areas of our business. A dedicated team actively manages, develops and promotes our compliance framework.

Impact of our services

Our firm has an enormously beneficial impact on the world of business, through our assurance business, and through our many areas of tax and advisory expertise. Assurance services are a basic necessity for the functioning of UK and international markets, and every day our firm takes on liability for the veracity of the published accounts of corporations, large and small. This is not only a regulatory requirement, but also a key enabler for companies to raise the finances they need to operate, develop and add value to the local economies in which they work.

Over the past year we have continued to play a leading role in the regulatory debate, and worked actively with companies, regulators, Government and the financial community to help rebuild the public trust in corporate reporting - notably through the Building Public Trust" awards for transparency in corporate reporting.