Exploring PwC's archive treasures

Old ledgers, clocks, typewriters and photo albums are just some of the items in the extensive PwC archive. To mark our 175th anniversary, we're selecting some of our favourite artefacts embodying our identity and purpose, and delving into their history. We have picked items which, in their own way, get to the essence of who we are and what we do, and illustrate why our people will always be at the heart of the 175-year PwC story. Look out for more to come in the months ahead.

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Unveiling the past: Partner deed & staff magazines

In this first installment of our archive video series, our social archivist Ben Sharratt unveils two artefacts that have played a pivotal role in shaping our firm’s identity - the original signed partner deed, and a collection of our staff magazines across the decades.

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Unveiling the past: Briefcases & laptops

In this second episode, Ben unveils two items that reflect the dynamic changes in our working environment - the traditional leather briefcase that represented the stereotypical image of an accountant, and one of the first laptop computers that put modern technology at our fingertips and heralded the firm’s digital transformation.

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Unveiling the past: Training films & ledgers

In this third episode, Ben explores a unique training approach from the 1960s, plus some essential ‘tools of the trade’ dating right back to our earliest years in business: True and Fair, a 1966 audit training film made by Cooper Brothers and starring our very own partners and staff; and our old ledgers and registers, revealing who we worked for and how we applied our accounting skills in the pre-computer age.