Our businesses and industries
Throughout 2023/2024, Deloitte continued to be organised in five businesses: Audit & Assurance, Consulting, Tax & Legal, Risk Advisory and Financial Advisory. These businesses all work across various economic sectors that we consider as six industry groups: consumer; energy, resources and industrials; financial services; government and the public sector; technology, media and telecommunications; and the private sector. Our Support Organisation serves both the businesses and the industries and increasingly benefits from the services that NSE provides to geographies. Working with a matrix of businesses and industries that is identical in every geography where Deloitte operates, allows us to meet the needs of our clients by combining expertise with experience.
In this section, we provide the 2023/2024 financial results and market developments of our five businesses and our Support Organisation, and explore their key challenges and opportunities. In addition, we discuss the main developments and activities within our industries.
Our strategic objectives are cascaded down to our businesses, which have plans in place to put our strategy into action by adding context and content to our five strategic pillars. The results of their activities feed back into our strategic dashboard.
Hear from our Business & Industry Leaders
After a tumultuous beginning, I’m proud to see Audit & Assurance’s year end on a promising note. This year, A&A launched a new strategy founded on Deloitte’s multidisciplinary model and an appreciation for the added value our long-term relationships bring to us and our clients - in both our audit and advisory practices. Underpinning our strategy is cross-collaboration. The need for cross-collaboration to overcome new challenges and create more opportunities is proving ever more evident as we rotate off current audit mandates and are winning new ones, including high-profile external audits such as ING Bank. We have also seen our Assurance practice grow by strengthening our wide range of services based on audit-related competencies in audit-readiness, ESG-readiness, and accounting and controls.
The use of GenAI in audit is an exciting example of our continued commitment to quality and innovation. While the human mind continues to be crucial, Headstart, our very own GenAI application, has proven a highly useful sparring partner and assistant for delivering high-quality audits.
This year, we’ve also enabled our talent to Never Stop Growing through the Bright Development Programme. This programme empowers our people to shape the Audit of the future. Through a robust selection of learning experiences, the programme aims to develop both professional and leadership skills. It offers our talent the flexibility to choose a particular minor specialisation, aligning with strategic goals. Participants can delve into areas such as IT Audit, Sustainability, Data Analytics, and Project Management. By acquiring and applying new skills in these fields, they can drive the transformation of the A&A business. On the ongoing debate about the future of audit, reports such as the final report published by The Quarter Masters and related dialogues establish the importance of audit services in society.
New developments within our practice amplify our impact, such as helping and advising clients on their ESG journey in reporting non-financial information. And, during our annual Stakeholder Dialogue event, we facilitated conversations on pressing societal challenges such as developments in governance by connecting leading organisations, regulators, scientists, and stakeholders.
There are exciting changes ahead for our profession. Upcoming rotations in our client portfolios, ESG developments, and investment in AI will all provide possibilities and challenges to our talent. I look forward to seeing how they will face these and, how, by working closer together and living our shared values, we can enhance the quality of our work and create added value for our clients.
The past year has been a year of readjustment for Consulting at Deloitte. Tougher market conditions, political and economic uncertainties, client demands for more effective and efficient delivery models, and the boom in GenAI were all factors that had a marked impact. An impact that, despite our best efforts, contributed to the difficult decision of re-assessing and reducing our headcount. Despite these challenges, we persevered through a concerted effort to strengthen our client pipelines, focus all our efforts on the market, and adapt our business strategies for the future.
One way we have adapted is adopting a more proactive stance in our client engagements. Here, we actively shape projects and foster deeper conversations. Our clients appreciate that we have opinions and the deep industry knowledge to inform them.
Our strategic focus on integrating industry knowledge with core competencies advanced us to the forefront of our client’s primary processes. We made significant strides in the financial services industry (FSI) with digital banking, and in energy, resources, and industrials (ER&I) in hydrogen. Behind these efforts is the winning combination of knowledge, innovation, technical expertise, and mission-driven purpose.
The integration of GenAI into our services has been a momentous development this year. With Headstart, we enhanced our service quality and delivered more value to our clients. Our clients have also valued our competency and knowledge in AI, paired with our true understanding of their business.
As we look ahead, our mission is clear: to improve our performance considering ongoing market challenges and integrate even further across NSE. To do so, we maintain a strategic emphasis on our Operate proposition, the use of the Global Delivery Network (GDN), and a continued focus on AI and sustainability. By balancing the need for immediate results with our long-term vision, we remain steadfast in creating a Consulting that is fit for the future.
In a year of meaningful progress and strong client partnerships, we saw the M&A, real estate, and financial forensics markets as the three driving pillars of Financial Advisory. During this year, we’ve had standout projects where we’ve successfully supported the Dutch government’s housing expansion plans and provided essential support to banks managing financial crime risks. And, despite a volatile M&A market, I continue to be very proud of the deep level of trust our clients have in us. This deep trust is vital to strengthening our role as a strategic, long-term partner for our clients.
Last year was challenging, as, after multiple years of exponential growth, we saw the market change its pace. We needed to shift gears and adjust to this change. To do so, we've refrained from recruiting heavily, instead choosing to focus on maintaining sustainable growth. This agility has allowed us to keep our commitment to client service and adaptability.
Collaboration within our Financial Advisory services has proven to be exemplary, particularly in the realm of anti-money laundering. We saw multi-disciplinary teams across Consulting, Risk Advisory, Tax, and Legal, come together to offer full-spectrum solutions. This collaborative spirit is what allows us to provide the entire spectrum of services our clients require: from Transformation to Operation.
Looking ahead, we see that Generative AI has the exciting potential to revolutionise our service delivery. As we explore what this technology is capable of, we anticipate that we will be able to increase the quality and efficiency of our work. I look forward to seeing how GenAI will help our clients - and ourselves - to establish new benchmarks in client service in the near future.
Marrying purpose and profitable growth is at the core of what Risk Advisory does. By helping our clients to become more accountable, we empower them to operate as responsible businesses that tackle societal and broader stakeholder issues. Deloitte’s Risk Advisory has continued to grow in the past year despite a challenging market for professional services. Driving this growth is our ability to stay connected to our client's needs and invest in developing ourselves to meet their evolving needs. Specifically, our investments in sustainability, GenAI, and responsible data solutions have paid off, helping our clients navigate ESG reporting and climate risks, as well as the responsible use of AI, privacy, and digital transformation.
Collaboration with other teams and geographies across the business and a deep specialisation in topics such as cybersecurity, resilience, regulatory, and financial risk continued to be a decisive differentiator.
This year we also set ourselves apart by driving innovation with notable feats including leading the agenda for AI in our firm and innovating on our sustainability regulatory reporting practice.
Our proudest achievement – and another prime example of our collaborative efforts - has been the continued growth of Africa Talent. This capability centre in South Africa has gone from supporting the Netherlands to supporting other geographies within NSE, like the UK, Ireland, and the Nordics. It’s not only about better commercial outcomes. It’s about making a significant social impact by creating local jobs and initiating a scalable solution that competes globally with other scale capability centres in our global firm.
This year continued our journey to be more than advisors for our clients; we’re trusted partners. Looking ahead, we will continue challenging our clients and help them build trust, become more secure, more sustainable, and more resilient in the long term.
Harvey Christophers and Aida Demneri were both interviewed for Risk Advisory. Aida succeeded Harvey as Risk Advisory Business Leader from 1 February, 2024, as Harvey took on the role of interim Chief Quality Officer in the Executive Board.
The continued profitable growth of our Tax & Legal business in the past year is a testament to our ability to meet client needs as they arise. Our strong client-centric approach is reflected in our financial success across different Service lines, Industries and offerings. This year, we have seen strategic progress in the areas where we have chosen to invest such as Transfer Pricing, Deloitte Legal and our sustainability offerings.
We see that governments and society are requiring more transparency from our clients. This means more data-based reporting in an increasingly intricate regulatory environment. By harnessing these changes as an opportunity, we have helped clients to proactively comply with local laws and manage regulatory demands.
Collaboration continues to be at the core of answering the needs of our clients. Internally, fusing our tax and legal expertise has been crucial to navigating client restructuring. On a larger scale, collaboration within industries and the integration of technology platforms demonstrate our ability to bring comprehensive, holistic solutions to our clients. I’m particularly proud of the offerings we have developed around the Central Electronic System of Payments (CESOP) and our offerings around the newly introduced global minimum taxation (pillar 2). This showcases how combining technology with deep expertise creates integrated solutions for intricate compliance challenges.
Looking ahead, our priority is to establish Deloitte as the undisputed market leader in tax and legal services by Financial Year 2026/2027. To do this, we will continue investing in the development of our top-tier talent, superior services, and cross-business collaboration. Ultimately, our commitment to quality and integrated service delivery for our clients will be what steer us to market leadership.
We are a people business. As such, it is vital to have the right people in place to keep a business of our size running. To ensure this, our goal this year for our Support organisation was to go beyond just ‘offering support’ and into being a true enabler for our business. One way we’re developing our Support organisation is by continuing our GSC 2.0 initiative, launched last year. Here, we nurture our people’s skills and create a community where leaders in our Support organisation can continuously learn and grow.
We’ve seen commendable progress in innovation last year. The launch of Headstart, our internal GenAI assistant based on ChatGPT, showcases how we have embraced AI tools with mindfulness about their risks. It also demonstrates how joint efforts between businesses and our enabling functions, like IT and Risk, bring great results firmwide.
Even in the face of pressing circumstances, our Support organisation remains agile. By proactively taking the time to understand the business and its associated challenges, we can adjust to better meet the changing needs of the business. The true value our Support organisation brings can often fly under the radar, but we ensure that every day, the gears of our business turn smoothly so that our professionals can do their best work.
Looking ahead, there are big changes for Deloitte on the horizon. At the forefront of our efforts are more integration across our services, a more interconnected way of working within our global enabling areas, and a new approach to our storefronts. These are challenges we will tackle. Through it all, the Support organisation’s accomplishments reflect a deep dedication to keeping our business running effectively, adapting to new ventures, and setting the stage for future collaboration. It continues to embody what it means to be a professional for professionals.
This year was one of continued economic challenges for the Consumer market, as our clients have had to adapt to changing consumer behaviour. It is against this background that we partnered with our clients to prioritise their investments in the core of their business: enhancing customer intimacy, trust and loyalty, and sustainably transforming by “digitising all we do”.
Our two-year research on the Future of Consumer explored how to navigate the new world of consumer markets and shape a better future. Here, we have spoken to several clients about the shaping the consumer industry and their implications. Consumers are becoming more diverse in many aspects, society is evolving, barriers of market entry are lowering, and exponential x-tech is accelerating all these developments at an unseen speed.
We also continued building on our strategy to offer a more integrated approach to our Consulting, Risk Advisory, Financial Advisory and Tax & Legal services in topics like digital, sustainability, finance, or cost transformations. As in previous years, technology continued to be an enabler. New was the developing demand for Generative AI, ranging from understanding what GenAI can do in the fields of efficiency improvement, cost reductions and process automation to customer interaction and data valorisation. However, before we see wider adoption, GenAI needs more use cases and more time to mature.
In the coming year, we foresee an initial recovery of consumer demand and cost-consciousness. We expect an increase in longer-term investments by our clients in areas of technology, smarter supply chains, channels and partnerships. All while their sustainability agenda becomes further embedded into the core of their business portfolio and processes.
Our strategy to support our priority clients with their most challenging business transformations has helped us to stay close to our key clients and - despite cost pressures - be their trusted partner in their journey towards a greener energy future This fiscal year has been defined by cost pressures in the Energy, Resources, & Industrials industry due to price volatility, partially driven by geopolitical events, demand fluctuations, and the transition to renewables. Companies have been seeking ways to improve their resilience, such as through operational efficiency. We are helping some of our biggest clients transform, and create a more competitive cost position, including cultural change to embed efficiency.
The Future of Energy topic has – again - taken centre stage over the past year, with continued focus within the energy sector and its stakeholders on transitioning to cleaner energy sources. We have established a name for ourselves as the leading professional services company in scale hydrogen deployment. I am particularly proud of Deloitte’s Energy Transition Monitor (ETM) that was launched this year. The ETM provides a comprehensive view on the current progress of the energy transition in the Netherlands.
We strongly believe in the value of a diversified portfolio of services. Alongside the growth in our advisory revenue, there has been a proportionate growth in audit revenues. It is important for our industry to maintain a robust audit practice, which we have secured for Financial Year 2024/2025 and beyond with several major wins this year. As we look forward, we also see digitalisation has been a significant trend, with companies leveraging new technologies for operations optimisation, predictive maintenance, supply chain management, and improved cybersecurity. We are proud of the progress we have made in the Gen AI domain with projects at several of our key clients.
This year, Deloitte’s Financial Services sector (FSI) has cemented itself as the market leader in transformations. By innovating through collaboration – across countries, functions, and industries - we’ve stayed ahead in an industry experiencing slower growth in the Netherlands. Our deep industry expertise, such as in pension transformation, has also proven instrumental in transforming our client’s core processes.
Digital industry solutions have enabled us to make significant strides, overcome challenges, and achieve milestones beyond what was possible with a traditional service delivery model. Collaboration with global hyper-scaler technology platforms, such as Converge, and alliance partnerships have been critical in swiftly bringing technology solutions, like CESOP, to the marketplace.
We’ve seen more and more pressure on social responsibility in the financial industry, particularly in anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, sustainability reporting, and cybersecurity. This shift in societal expectations is reflected in EU-wide regulations such as AML, ESG, CESOP, and DORA. While our client’s demands change, we maintain our commitment to delivering top-tier solutions that meet our client's needs.
An area where we’ve continued to make remarkable progress in, is in addressing societal Financial Health issues. By driving a nationwide coalition with FSI industry partners, we have positively impacted over 600,000 employees to date. This initiative has proven vital during these periods of economic stress, marked by high inflation and surging energy costs.
Looking ahead, we aim to be the FSI industry’s undisputed leader in orchestrating transformations that accelerate our clients’ impact on their most pressing challenges. To do so, we have taken strides toward a more balanced portfolio, securing several significant audit mandates. With these efforts, we ensure our clients will thrive in today’s financial landscape.
This year, we have tackled some of the toughest issues facing society; from the housing shortage to working towards a safer society to addressing the nitrogen issue in the Netherlands. Societal resilience has been a particularly pressing issue. Together with NATO, we embarked on a mission to create more awareness within society that security and safety should be considered . Our success in these initiatives can be attributed to the commitment of our people, who lead each one with the drive to leave a positive social impact.
As we move away from a supporting role where we optimise internal business and towards becoming more involved in our client’s core processes, our commitment continues to be one of the factors our clients value. The successes we have experienced this year can be attributed to our client’s trust in us, our adaptability, and the depth and breadth of our expertise and services.
We pride ourselves on building meaningful, longstanding partnerships with our clients. Continued trust and shared goals have led us to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them, especially during these challenging times. We have seen the value of our adaptability and deep, broad expertise in our work in the health sector. Here, we have bridged the gap between healthcare and retail, going beyond treating illness and focusing instead on improving overall health.
At the heart of our people is the intrinsic dedication to positively contribute to society and further our clients’ missions. We aim to keep leading initiatives that proactively address societal needs and foster trust within our community. By staying committed to our clients and communities, we will keep making real changes where they’re needed most.
Deloitte Private excels when we keep doing what we do best: forging deep, meaningful partnerships with private companies for the long term. What helps us build these connections? Our ability to dive into their businesses, grasp the nuance of their challenges, and embrace the intricacies of their shareholder structures at various stages in their lifecycle.
We are present in the playfield between scale-ups, private equity, and family enterprises, recognising the role of private capital in shaping the future and bringing our value to the entrepreneurial and innovative power of the Netherlands.
Looking ahead, our sights are set on sustainability, an area where family enterprises stand out for their longstanding commitments. We endeavour to turn this overwhelming climate challenge into manageable steps. Our goal is to simplify the decision-making process by advocating participation in ecosystems that solve societal problems and present attractive commercial opportunities, simultaneously. We embrace this ecosystem thinking ourselves, as we work towards being at the helm of collaborative solutions. Our current orchestration role in Brainport, where we get a seat at the table of all relevant stakeholders, embodies this mindset and helps us really make an impact on the broader society. Here, we want more than to only be present in these discussions. We want to shape them – championing change, fostering innovation, and inspiring action.
Collaboration on all fronts is at the heart of Deloitte Private’s future growth. By uniting with clients, other industries, and Deloitte teams around the world, we’re nurturing an environment where collective action is encouraged and celebrated. Our multidisciplinary approach has proven indispensable to our teams and clients. We see that each project makes it easier to collaborate on future projects, as you learn more and more about what others are capable of and what they can make possible.
It has become even more evident that our clients face the same headwinds and challenges we do. In the year to come, we want to empower our clients to make an even bigger impact than before. By focusing on our strengths, on what we do well, and intensifying what we already have, we can help our clients choose what challenges to address and how best to tackle them.
Over the last year, our TMT practice has steered clients through the lively landscape of Generative AI, the changing media market, and the political complexities of the semiconductor sector. We continue to see GenAI impacting every industry, as our clients seek guidance on how to stay ahead of the GenAI curve. The media sector has also seen a lot more movement this year compared to previous ones. The Dutch media, specifically, has been characterised by strategic acquisitions and an industry-wide trend towards consolidation, exemplified by RTL’s transition to new ownership. Within the semiconductor sector, our industry has also tackled the global politics head-on, where companies like ASML adapt to a fluctuating economic environment. Despite these challenges, the Netherlands continues to strengthen its reputation as a hotbed for tech innovation. Deloitte’s Fast 50 event highlighted this explosive growth of up-and-coming tech firms.
Telecommunications and technology’s inherent international reach have made TMT strong in cross-country collaboration. An example of this is seen in our work with Adevinta last year – a fruitful cross-border collaboration that transformed from a nascent engagement into a substantial contribution to our EMEA practice for our Dutch firm.
We continue to keep the client central, echoing their ambitions and aligning our services with their strategic visions. This is made possible through multi-year relationships that allow us to understand underlying client needs better. This way, we ensure we’re answering the right question, have the right proposal, and, most importantly, provide the right solution for our clients.
Behind all of this, are our people. We continue to build on the benefits of diverse teams and want to make sure everyone feels included. This is what fosters our culture of innovation that is essential to meeting our client's challenges.
As we look forward, we keep our focus on what truly matters: staying close to our clients, being true to our people, investing in understanding new technologies, and continuously exploring how we can help clients win in their market. If we truly help our clients win, we will win.