Mike McKerr
has been Managing Partner of EY Ireland
since 2009, responsible for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. During his career with the firm, he worked in
the US and UK, and was a partner in EY’s M&A division.
EY REPORTED STRONG
GROWTH IN THE YEAR TO JUNE 2015. TO WHAT FACTORS DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THIS
OUT-PERFORMANCE?
Posting
more than 33% growth in the last two years is a
significant achievement, and we are very pleased that it’s all been organic
growth. The momentum in our business today is down to our long-term investment
strategy and the decisions we took during the downturn. For example, we did not
make any redundancies but increased market activity and upskilled our people to
work across new areas. This strategy has certainly paid off, and over the last
two years we have admitted 14 new partners and have recruited top talent across
experienced and graduate hires.
We continue
to see robust growth in our core audit services in addition to strong demand
for broader assurance services, including Data Analytics and Fraud
Investigation and Dispute Services (FIDS), which grew more than 40% in
FY15. Based on the latest transparency
reports, EY is now the second largest audit and assurance business in Ireland.
Change
continues to be a key focus for our domestic and international clients, driven
by both the need to control costs and remain competitive, but also to ignite
growth and penetrate new markets. We
invested heavily in new areas including Data Analytics, Assurance, Centres of
Excellence and Performance Improvement.
The PI team
in Advisory led by Frank O’Dea, continues to grow due to an increase in demand
for business transformation, process improvement and IT change management
services. The PI team alone now employ over 200 people working across public
and private sector clients, improving key business functions to achieve
significant and sustainable improvement in enterprise-level performance.
But our
success is about much more than financial results. It is also about our people,
who continue to deliver exceptional client service. EY has a leading people
culture and a transformational approach to developing talent. The firm
continues to accelerate investment across the organisation and intend to
acquire additional new office space in a number of Irish locations over the
coming months to cater for their growing numbers.
By focusing
on our people agenda, we have been able to create real momentum both inside and
outside the organisation. It’s a virtuous circle – we enable them to deliver exceptional
service, which strengthens our client relationships, helps us to capture market
share, and this growth creates career opportunities for our people.
EY IS DOING
PARTICULARLY WELL WITH AUDIT WINS. WHAT’S THE REASON FOR THAT? WHAT’S YOUR VIEW
ON PROPOSALS FOR STATUTORY ROTATION OF AUDITORS?
EY had
several fantastic audit wins in FY15, which reflects the significant investment
made globally and locally to innovate our audit service through the use of
analytical tools. Collectively our Audit and other Assurance services grew 16%
in FY15, driven by excellent performance across our core Audit business, Fraud
Investigation and Dispute Services and Data Analytics. We will continue to invest in these areas.
Regulatory
change, particularly audit rotation, will continue to alter the audit market
for some years to come and we believe innovation and data analytics solutions
will be in increasing demand.
European
legislation on audit reform enacted in April 2014 will come into force in
Ireland from June 2016 in the form of a new EU regulation and amendments to the
existing EU Audit Directive on statutory audit. The objective of the reform
measures is to ensure the objectivity and independence of auditors and includes
the requirements for the mandatory rotation of audit firms on public interest
entities.
These
significant audit reforms will affect the auditing profession, the entities we
audit and our relationships with our clients and the regulatory authorities who
supervise us. We have actively engaged on these changes with the legislators
and regulatory authorities, including making submissions to reflect the views
of EY Ireland.
We are
committed to supporting regulatory change which is appropriately proportionate
for financial statement preparers and their auditors, and which ultimately
strengthens public confidence in the audit model. EY Ireland will therefore
continue to support regulatory change that enhances stakeholder confidence.
EY IS A BIG
4 FIRM THAT MULTINATIONALS GO TO. HOW CAN IRISH SMES BENEFIT FROM USING YOUR
SERVICES TOO, AND CAN THEY AFFORD IT?
Critical to
our market leading growth in Ireland is combining our global strength together
with deep local connections in each of our offices across Ireland. Our ability to collaborate internationally
helps both multinational and entrepreneurial clients expand across borders.
While FDI
can be a critical enabler of growth, it is equally important to help Irish
companies become global players in their own right. The EY Entrepreneur Of The
Year programme is the leading business award in Ireland and represents a unique
business development and support network opportunity for entrepreneurs across
the island of Ireland.
Our annual
EOY CEO retreat is designed to take entrepreneurs out of their comfort zone and
challenge them to think differently about their business. Attendees are given the opportunity to expand
their leadership skills, forge links to new markets and develop their own
successful strategy for growth in addition to developing an invaluable network
of peers.
Change
continues to be a key focus for EY clients of all sizes, driven by both a need
to control costs and remain competitive, and to ignite growth and penetrate new
markets.
The
diversity of our service offering and international reach means that we have a
broad spectrum of experience to offer indigenous and multinationals alike. In
this way, we can transfer our expertise of working with large multinationals to
Irish SMEs, focusing on improving key business functions to achieve significant
and sustainable improvement in enterprise-level performance.
STABLE
GOVERNMENT SINCE 2011 IS ONE FACTOR CREDITED FOR RENEWED BUSINESS CONFIDENCE.
IS THIS ISSUE OVER-STATED, OR IS STABLE GOVERNMENT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT FOR
ECONOMIC GROWTH GOING FORWARD?
A number of
factors have contributed to the economic growth that Ireland has enjoyed in
recent years – among them is confidence and having a stable government in
place. Having a stable economic environment has helped to reassure both Irish
firms and external investors that it is safe to invest, takes risks and pursue
new opportunities. During 2016, we expect to see a strengthening domestic
economy, and continued export growth further enhance business confidence.
Late last
year, we carried out a survey with our EOY community. The survey shows that over half of the
entrepreneurs surveyed have conducted business with other members of the EOY
community, demonstrating the importance of professional networks in creating a
supportive climate for doing business in Ireland. Furthermore, a skilled and
educated workforce, low corporation tax rates and government support were
listed as the biggest enablers to doing business in Ireland.
It
therefore vital for government, industry and academia to understand the
specific challenges facing entrepreneurs and to collaborate to solve problems,
address legislative and cultural barriers to success, and together shape the
future of entrepreneurship in
Ireland.
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