KPMG and EY secure civil servants training contract in UK

The UK Government has awarded a contract worth up to £456m to consultancy companies KPMG and EY to train civil servants, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing data from government procurement tracker Tussell.

Under the arrangement, EY and KPMG will train officials across various skills areas including AI between 2026 and 2028.

The deal is said to be the largest single contract awarded to ‘Big Four’ companies since Tussell started tracking records in 2012.

The previous record was a £322m deal between the Foreign Office and PricewaterhouseCoopers, signed in 2012.

KPMG’s share of the contract is capped at £319m. The figure represents almost a quarter of the company’s total UK advisory net sales from last year.

EY’s portion is worth £137m, equivalent to around 13% of its UK consulting revenue over the same period.

When approached by International Accounting Bulletin, EY declined to comment on the contract award.

The new KPMG-EY contract will replace an existing civil service training arrangement that was due to expire.

The £456m figure is a ceiling, not a guaranteed expenditure. The government is not required to use the full amount.

According to the FT, the contract was awarded despite a previous pledge by the government in 2024 to halve consultancy spending.

The pledge was meant to save taxpayers more than £1.2bn by 2026. Civil servants were told that any major new consultancy contracts would need sign-off from a cabinet minister or a department’s senior official.

Tussell figures show that Big Four companies have already secured £1.25bn in contracts this year, exceeding last year’s total of £1.06bn.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told the publication that the government remains committed to halving consultancy spending, with £700m in annual savings expected by 2028/29.

The spokesperson added that the contract awarded covers training services rather than consultancy and will be phased out once the in-house training model is in place.