Transparency Report 2021 - Kevin Ellis transcript

Welcome to our first digital Transparency Report - in which we share important information with our stakeholders.

PwC’s purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems, and we know from the conversations we have with our clients, people, regulators and other stakeholders that it is as relevant now as it has ever been. 

Our reputation is not just built on what we do, but how we do it. And this report is designed to show how we’ve taken action as a leading audit firm - at a time when the sector continues to be under significant scrutiny, and our people are working in a new hybrid world.

During the challenges of the last 20 months, our people have been committed to delivering to the highest quality, whatever the circumstances. I’m proud to see how our audit teams have adapted - bringing solutions to complex issues, maintaining a culture of challenge and leveraging innovation and technology..

Quality is central to our firm wide strategy, and remains the top priority for our audit practice. That’s why we’ve continued to invest in our Programme to Enhance Audit Quality.  We’re seeing the benefits of the programme through a number of the quality measures we monitor, including the improvement in our most recent Audit Quality Results and the FRC’s recognition of good practices in our audits. 

This year we’ve input to the comprehensive consultation from BEIS on corporate governance and audit reform. Through our stakeholder engagement activities we’ve continued to work with Government and regulators to reiterate our support for measures that promote high quality audits, increase resilience of the audit market and maintain the attractiveness of audit as a profession. 

Achieving the desired improvements to the quality of corporate governance, reporting and audit will require a holistic and proportionate approach to reform from all those involved: companies, directors, audit committees, auditors, investors and the regulator. 

This is critical to ensuring the UK continues to be a leader in corporate governance and remains a trusted, attractive and competitive destination for foreign investment.

We recognise we have an important role to play and we’re committed to helping to increase trust and confidence in UK business through quality, integrity and transparency. 

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