EY chairman says UK must reform EU from within The Big Four accountancy firm, formerly known as Ernst & Young, saw growth in three of its four business areas - advisory, assurance and tax - with only transaction advisory services seeing a drop in revenue. Mr Varley said the increase in revenue was the result of continuing to invest "in our business through this austere environment" and "through our global firm connections into faster growing markets." Mr Varley admitted that while the pace of growth in fast emerging economies had slowed somewhat, "that connection of trade and investment has been important." Posting 6pc organic revenue growth at a time when business investment levels in the UK remain historically weak, is a good achievement. "It demonstrates that we are winning in the market and that our investment programme is paying dividends," he continued. Earlier this week, the global EY partnership reported revenues of $25.8bn, up 7.7pc over the prior year. As a result of the growth, the UK & Ireland firm's 565 partners will share in a £368m profit pool, up from £328m in 2012. The average distributable profit per partner will be £651,000. The firm said that it plans to hire 2,400 people in the current financial year to June 2014, a third of which will be at the partnership's offices across the north of England. Of particular focus will be a major investment in data analytics and cyber security, in respone to customer demand, with teams in both of those areas doubled over the next two years. Mr Varley said that the firm was continuing to benefit from inward investment in the UK, noting that "confidence in the UK is definitely building." "Corporates have more confidence which is spilling over into entrepreneurs," he concluded.