PwC UK’s revenues fell last year for the first time in more than two decades as it was hit by a prolonged slump in its Middle East consulting business. PwC said on Wednesday that total revenue for the UK group, which includes operations in the Middle East, fell by 3 per cent to £6.2bn in the 12 months to June. Revenues in the Big Four firm’s Middle East business contracted 15 per cent to £1.7bn, with the fall outweighing a 2 per cent increase in sales by its larger UK-based operations.

Despite the fall in revenues, average pay for the firm’s near-1,000 partners rose to a record £935,000 as it reduced staff numbers and cut costs. PwC UK’s senior partner, Marco Amitrano, was paid £4.8mn, up from £4.3mn a year earlier. The record payouts came as the firm cut back on hiring, slashing staff numbers across the UK and Middle East by 4,000 or almost 12 per cent. It is the second year of falling sales in PwC’s Middle East business, which has been hit by a wider slowdown in lucrative Saudi Arabian consulting projects, previously the engine for rapid growth at the firm.

PwC said it had been a “challenging year” for its Middle East business, citing “the impact of regional conflict, wider market disruption and currency movements”. The firm had last year cut the jobs of about 60 partners and 1,500 staff in the region after being hit with a year-long ban on winning work from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The firm this year parachuted in its UK managing partner Laura Hinton to run the Middle East business as it sought to navigate the slowdown. PwC is the first of the Big Four firms — which also include Deloitte, EY and KPMG — to report its UK results for the most recent financial year.