Information Density: PwC UK – Signal Evidence & AI Readability

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PwC UK - Building relationships, creating value

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Time for change: The evolving role of the CEO in building a future-ready business

PwC’s 29th UK CEO survey

Discover more

[IMG: PwC’s 29th UK CEO Survey]

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Time for change: The evolving role of the CEO in building a future-ready business

PwC’s 29th UK CEO survey

Discover more

[IMG: A new vision for financial services]

A new vision for financial services
Securing global financial services leadership and driving investment in the UK economy over the next decade.

[IMG: So you can]

So you can
We unite expertise and tech so you can outthink, outpace, outperform. Make it happen with PwC.

[IMG: The Next Era]

The Next Era
Annual Report FY25: Showing resilience in a year of transformation and change.

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[H3] Careers: Take your career further
Whether you're at School or University and looking at starting your career, or you're an Experienced Professional looking to explore new opportunities - visit our careers website and you'll be able to discover the range of opportunities we have in our offices across the UK.
Go to Careers

[H3] UK Alumni network
The PwC Alumni network is dedicated to supporting former employees that remain connected with the firm through professional networking programs, social media, learning and events.
Visit Alumni

[H3] UK offices
A full list of all PwC office locations by city across the UK.
View all offices

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Technology

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Technology offers a constantly evolving range of ways to reinvent how you do business.

At PwC, we bring our technology and engineering capabilities together with our functional and industry expertise to deliver the business outcomes you need. We work alongside our alliance partners and managed services teams to embed technology across your organisation. Helping you navigate and keep ahead of emerging technologies. Maintain peace of mind that your data is secure. Giving you confidence to explore, invent and transform.

[H3] Want ROI from AI? Go for growth

Most organisations are investing heavily in AI, yet few are seeing real returns. Our global AI performance study analysed 60 management practices to uncover what top performers do differently. The most AI-fit companies achieve 7.2x more AI-driven performance than their peers. Explore the full report to find out how they do it.
Find out more

[H2] Featured client stories
We help our clients achieve more from their technology because we know technology is only one part of the solution. We focus on creating and driving solutions that deliver the competitive edge.

[H3] Manchester Airports Group

Transforming an airport while operating an airport is about as complex as transformation projects get. Hear how Manchester Airport transformed its terminal buildings, as well as its technology and workforce to deliver better service to more passengers.

Find out more

[H3] THG Ingenuity

From automation to data-driven decision-making, discover why a human-led, tech-powered approach is critical to delivering transformation in the retail sector.
Find out more

[H3] Virgin Money

Embracing the power of GenAI, Virgin Money is rolling out a productivity tool across its entire organisation. Find out how we're working with the bank, rigorously testing a GenAI tool to build trust and boost productivity across its workforce.
Find out more

[H3] ScottishPower

From digitisation to decarbonisation - find out how ScottishPower is creating change that will help transform its business and the wider UK economy.

Find out more

[H3] Chapel Down

Hear how we helped Chapel Down transform winemaking with Microsoft Dynamics 365, driving growth and innovation in English sparkling wine.

Find out more

Video

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Tech Catalyst – our technology innovation team

Tech Catalyst brings together human centric design and technical capabilities in AI, cloud, data and engineering. With end-to-end support from prototyping to deployment, and a focus on emerging technologies, it empowers clients to solve complex problems and unlock value through tailored, scalable AI solutions.

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[H2] Managed services

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[H2] Alliances

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[H2] Contact us

[IMG: Claire Reid]

Claire Reid

Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, PwC United Kingdom

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Email

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We have 19 offices supporting our clients across the UK. Click on the links in the list or on the map to find your nearest PwC team.

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[H1]
Media centre

[H2] Featured press releases

CEO Survey
Germany and India catch up with UK on investment appeal

PwC UK 2025 Financial results
Resilience in a year of transformation and change

Media contacts
[H3] Meet our team
Contacts

[H2] News releases

Corporate news
Research & commentary
Appointments
Administrations
Regions

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[H2] See all our press releases by date

Media centre archive

[H2] Meet our team

Contacts

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We bring expertise that industries are built on so you can make decisions your future can stand on

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[H2] Industry leading expertise
We work alongside you—with powerful tech and expertise—to turn your next move into your next advantage.
Smart growth starts with deep insight.

[H2] Explore your industry

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Consumer markets

Hospitality, sport and leisure

Transport and logistics

Retail and consumer goods

Energy, utilities and resources

Energy and Resources

Power and Utilities

Chemicals and Metals

Financial services

Asset and wealth management

Banking and capital markets

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Real estate

Government and health industries

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Education

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Devolved and local government

Pharmaceutical and life sciences

Central government

Transport

Industrial manufacturing and services

Aerospace

Automotive

Business Support services

Defence

Engineering and construction

Manufacturing

Private equity and funds

Technology, media and telecommunications

Why us
[H2] We bring deep industry knowledge and experience across the full spectrum of your business.

We’ve launched Industry Edge to accelerate industry transformation with deep sector-specific insights, capabilities, technology, data and AI models.
From AI to regulation, tax strategy to value creation, our deep expertise spans your business needs—helping you manage risks and build lasting stakeholder trust.
Our alliances with leading tech companies give you access to the best technology for your business needs. We provide customised solutions that simplify systems and boost results.
We will help you succeed as value shifts and industries converge in response to evolving megatrends.

Insights
[H2] Fuel your thinking on your next steps

[H2] Explore how to create and protect value

AI that delivers

We know how your business works so you can put AI to work for your business.

Alliance partners to power ambition
We work with tech’s titans and trailblazers so you can think like a startup, scale like a giant.

Sustainability with impact
We connect sustainability to strategy so you can strengthen your reputation and bottom line.

[H2] Contact us

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Carl Sizer

Chief Markets Officer, PwC United Kingdom

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[IMG: UK CEO survey]

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Time for change: The evolving role of the CEO in building a future-ready business
29th UK CEO Survey
CEOs are working across multiple time horizons and industry boundaries, as they deal with increased scrutiny and lead their organisations through reinvention and AI revolution.

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The 29th PwC UK CEO Survey reveals the extent to which business leaders are planning and acting across potentially conflicting time horizons—as they navigate multiple near-term challenges while working towards the long-term reinvention of their business.
That puts greater emphasis and scrutiny on the CEO’s role in determining how much change their business can tolerate, how fast it can move, what risks can be taken and what investments and interventions are needed.
But the survey also shows that CEOs who have taken bold steps to reinvent their businesses are seeing those moves pay off.

The most successful business leaders I have come across are more naturally inclined to see disruption as an opportunity to pull away from their competitors.

Dominic Blakemore
Compass Group
Read the full interview

[H2] Action and accountability in a time of heightened scrutiny

As the stakes become higher, the focus on business leaders is intensifying. Employees, customers and investors alike are looking to CEOs for clarity and stability. Nearly two thirds of CEOs (61%) say they feel increased scrutiny on their leadership. To compound this pressure, a third of UK CEOs (33%) question whether they have the right leadership team around them—while the same proportion recognise their organisation is hampered by unnecessary bureaucracy and internal politics that may undermine its agility at a critical time.
CEOs will need to address these concerns to give their business the best chance of moving forward at speed and to give themselves the ability to focus their time and energy where it is most needed.

The number one job for a business leader is to create, support, develop and add new leaders to your organisation.

Lee Perkins
Civica
Read the full interview

[H5] 35%

of UK CEOs are questioning whether they’re doing enough to ensure the medium- to long-term viability of their company.

[H5] 59%

of UK CEOs are personally sponsoring transformation projects.

A big priority is making sure our staff feel the business is stable and our customers see that stability. We have a plan and we’re sticking to it. The message has to come from the top that we know what we’re doing.

Avril Palmer-Lavery
Constellation Automotive Group
Read the full interview

They’re also asking tough questions of themselves. More than a third (35%) of UK CEOs say they are questioning whether they are doing enough to ensure their company remains viable in the medium- to long-term. In response, there has been an increase in the proportion of CEOs taking the lead on delivering vital change—with 59% personally sponsoring transformation projects.
In a role where forces such as urgency and legacy—crisis and custodianship—collide, CEOs are increasingly having to balance the ‘corporate time travel’ of simultaneously thinking and acting across multiple complex and potentially conflicting time horizons. UK CEOs say 55% of their working time is focused on the next 12 months, while over a third (34%) is focused on the next one to five years, and 11% on five years plus.

CEOs must also determine where they invest, potentially making difficult decisions about which areas of the business offer the greatest opportunities for growth and where savings can release capital. Technology investments are an immediate priority for most. But elsewhere there will inevitably be trade-offs, shaped by each organisation’s context and risk appetite.
The survey reveals just over a fifth of CEOs say they are prioritising rapid growth, even if it means taking on added risk. The majority (62%) report a more balanced approach, while 17% are focused on value-protection—even if it means slower growth.

By focusing on the things that are going to make the biggest long-term difference, we can stay true to our vision. Having that north star means every decision can be optimised for our future direction.

Paul Ludlow
Carnival UK & P&O Cruises
Read the full interview

Where CEOs see opportunity, it is critical they act decisively and invest—or risk conceding the opportunity to a more agile competitor. As such it is essential that CEOs assess the challenges that surround them but are not disproportionately daunted by them.

Marco Amitrano, Senior Partner, PwC UK, says: “CEOs are making high-stakes decisions in conditions that rarely offer certainty. What matters most now is the ability to judge when to protect value and when to invest for growth—knowing that the route forward won’t be linear, and returns will likely be uneven. The leaders who stand out are those who can balance near-term demands with long-term aspirations, adapt as the risk landscape shifts, and move with confidence and agility as the context keeps changing.”

We went through the credit crunch and inflation. We’ve gone through high interest rates and the energy-crisis. And the truth of it is, none of those macro events impacted us in terms of consumer demand. They’ve impacted us in terms of our cost base, but we haven’t to date experienced a downturn due to a macroeconomic shock.

Russell Barnes
David Lloyd Clubs
Read the full interview

[H2] Explore the key findings of our UK CEO Survey

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Overview
How the CEO role is evolving in the face of rising scrutiny and a need to reinvent across multiple time horizons.

Technology
Leaders look to cloud, AI, data and analytics to transform for growth, but question whether they’re moving fast enough.

Innovation
While UK CEOs differ on routes to growth, most agree innovation is key for success. Yet some remain hampered by internal challenges.

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AI
CEOs share where they are on their AI journey and the steps they’re taking to realise value.

Economic outlook
UK CEOs feel less exposed to risk than global counterparts but still expect a challenging outlook.

CEO interviews
We’ve spoken with leaders from across industries and sectors to hear their unique insights on the forces shaping the business landscape.

[H2] Read exclusive CEO interviews

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Avril Palmer-Lavery
Constellation Automotive Group

[IMG: Avril Palmer-Lavery]

[H3] ‘Take risks, gamble and hold your nerve’

On the role of strong leadership, clear communication and shutting out negativity in driving growth.
Read the interview

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Louise O’Shea
CFC

[IMG: Louise O]

[H3] Why CEOs are “never fully satisfied”

Why operating in a dynamic sector requires a relentless focus on innovation.
Read the interview

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Dominic Blakemore
Compass Group

[IMG: Dominic Blakemore]

[H3] “Do what only you can do”: CEOs must prioritise

On the value of carving out space to focus on growth and more entrepreneurial thinking.
Read the interview

[H3] 04/

Russell Barnes
David Lloyd Clubs

[IMG: Russell Barnes]

[H3] “Premiumisation” is key to aggressive growth

On the power of knowing your customer and backing your investment decisions.
Read the interview

[H3] 05/

Rain Newton-Smith
CBI

[IMG: Rain Newton-Smith]

[H3] ‘Hope, confidence and optimism’ can help accelerate UK growth

Why challenging perceived obstacles will be key to creating UK economic growth.
Read the interview

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Dhara Vyas
Energy UK

[IMG: Dhara Vyas]

[H3] Energy transition is critical to economic growth, resilience and investment

Why a cleaner, smarter energy system is critical to the UK’s resilience and investor appeal.
Read the interview

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Michael Topham
Biffa

[IMG: Michael Topham]

[H3] “Investment grade” policies are key to UK growth, clean jobs and net zero success

On delivering major transformation, keeping pace with regulation and knowing when to be a fast-follower.
Read the interview

[H3] 08/

Graham Charlton
Softcat

[IMG: Graham Charlton]

[H3] Businesses and government must build stronger foundations for tech success

On taking a structured approach to AI and creating a future-proof team and business.
Read the interview

[H3] 09/

Lee Perkins
Civica

[IMG: Lee Perkins]

[H3] The right senior leadership team is more important than ever

Why creating, developing and bringing in new leaders should be the priority for every CEO.
Read the interview

[H3] 10/

Paul Ludlow
Carnival UK & P&O Cruises

[IMG: Paul Ludlow]

[H3] A “north star” has never been more important

How knowing where you’re heading will inform better decisions for the short- and long-term.
Read the interview

[H3] 11/

Mary Huen
Hong Kong and Greater China & North Asia, Standard Chartered

[IMG: Mary Huen]

[H3] CEOs must be connectors, custodians and cultivators in a shifting world

On aligning legacy and innovation to create stronger businesses and relationships.
Read the interview

[H2] Related content

[H3] 29th Global CEO Survey

CEOs are reinventing their companies with technology and seeking growth opportunities in new sectors, even as they see elevated threats ahead.

[H2] Contact us

[IMG: Marco Amitrano]

Marco Amitrano

Alliance Senior Partner, PwC UK & Middle East, PwC United Kingdom

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Email

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