Numbers are important. They have a helpful way of conveying results in an easily-digestible, unerring format. But, perhaps I would say that, given my profession.
In my last blog, I talked about a lot of numbers. Last year Deloitte's UK Group delivered 13.6% growth, breaching £3 billion in revenue for the first time. The firm has invested in 30 start-ups, 20 of which were developed by our own people. Our number of partners and directors in Scotland rose to 35 and 45, while we also recruited 53 graduates and 10 BrightStarts.
But that's only part of the impact Deloitte has made this year. While sometimes numbers tell you all you need to know, in other instances you have to go beyond the headline figures and look to what they're made of.
That's exactly what we do in our annual Impact Report. It contains more than 60 stories detailing how the 17,000 people across Deloitte have put their shared purpose into action over the last 12 months.
At the top level, it showed that in FY 2016 Deloitte advised on 43% of Main Market IPOs, filed over 21,000 tax returns and signed audit reports for 15,500 entities. The firm also supported 4,500 students through Deloitte Access and gave over 46,000 hours to charitable causes.
Of course, these numbers only tell you part of the story about our year at Deloitte. But, sometimes the most important tales don't lend themselves that well to eye-catching figures.
As part of our continued commitment to Aberdeen, we spent a great deal of time this year supporting Granite, a major participatory arts project in the city. Developed and organised by the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS), with backing from Aberdeen City Council, the series of events told "the story of Aberdeen" through its people.
The project was one of NTS's most ambitious to date – and we knew our sponsorship would help provide a unique set of opportunities to individuals and arts groups across the city. At a challenging time for Aberdeen, it helped disparate groups come together, learn about their past, think about their future, and develop their own talents through participation in this major theatrical production.
We were proud to support such an important initiative, which engaged thousands of people across Aberdeen and sold more than 1,300 price-friendly tickets. It was an amazing project to be part of, with some of Scotland's leading organisations. There are still opportunities to get involved, with the scriptwriters behind Granite being given space at Aberdeen Arts Centre and the bespoke choir are planning to establish the 'Granite Choir'.
This year also marked the fourth year of our Non-Executive Director Programme in Scotland, which supports some of the most influential business leaders in the UK. Designed for, and by, the non-execs of some of Scotland's leading organisations, it helps them meet their regulatory and statutory obligations as directors, as well promoting an important exchange of ideas among Scotland's business leaders.
We held three sessions for more than forty non-executive directors this year. The feedback has been very positive and supportive of the programme continuing – we look forward to seeing our next cohort of participants.
Making a further impact to the way we do business in Scotland, we signed up to the Scottish Business Pledge. It highlights the significance of boosting productivity, development and workforce engagement. All things extremely important to us as a firm.
Those are just a few ways we made an impact that matters to our clients, people, and the places in which we do business. There are others to tell, not least how we are using robots to help Clydesdale Bank manage a vast number of customer requests every week. More on that later, though.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing what our people do this year to make a positive contribution to Scotland's businesses and communities.
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