Deloitte cuts staff but the CEO’s salary soars
In the year in which the company cut 1,000 jobs in the UK, CEO Richard Houston’s remuneration rose by 45 per cent
Key points
In the year that Deloitte cut 1,000 jobs in the UK, CEO Richard Houston’s salary rose by 45 per cent and now, at £7.1 million, he is the highest-paid British executive among the Big Four.
The highest-paid
Houston, who until June headed the firm’s UK division but was promoted this summer to chief executive of Deloitte EMEA, received a profit share of £5.8 million and a bonus of £1.3 million for the 12 months ending in May. This increase means that Houston’s remuneration is more than 90 times higher than the average salary of Deloitte employees in the UK during the last financial year. In 2021, his remuneration stood at 2.9 million pounds, and 4.9 million in 2025.
The others
In the 12 months to the end of May 2026, the average partner remuneration rose by 7 per cent, an increase of £74,000 compared with the same period last year. In the 2025–26 financial year, however, Deloitte’s revenue in the UK (and Switzerland) grew by just 2 per cent to just under £6 billion, whilst profits rose by 14 per cent to 900 million, and the firm decided to cut 1,000 of its 25,000 UK jobs.
