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PwC has issued legal warnings to key personnel at Unity Advisory as the Big Four firm’s relationship with a former executive, who departed to establish the specialist advisory firm, becomes contentious.
Marissa Thomas, PwC’s previous UK chief operating officer, inaugurated Unity last year with $300mn in private equity support, alongside former EY UK boss Steve Varley. They pledged to attract away clients and associates from leading consulting companies.
The Big Four firm has dispatched multiple “menacing” legal letters to principal partners at the new venture, sources familiar with the situation informed the FT.
This confrontation demonstrates the manner in which top consultancies protect their market leadership and signifies a decline in the previously strong professional bond between Thomas and PwC’s UK boss Marco Amitrano.
One individual acquainted with both leaders described the context of these communications as profoundly personal: “It is a bit like a divorce . . . when friends dissolve their bond and engage in rivalry, you get lots of people caught in the crossfire, trapped.”
When PwC’s principal UK position became available in 2024, Thomas was generally considered a formidable contender to lead the firm of 33,700 individuals, having headed its transactions and taxation divisions. However, she was omitted from a three-person candidate list for the role. Amitrano, the head of consulting, ultimately secured the position through an election.
Unity, which is supported by Warburg Pincus, has recruited numerous ex-PwC partners, some of whom had been requested to retire prematurely from the Big Four firm in 2024.
According to one of the individuals, the niche firm has engaged law firm Mishcon de Reya to provide guidance concerning the contractual limitations binding partners following their departure from PwC.
Similar to other companies, PwC’s partner contract encompasses restrictive covenants prohibiting partners from engaging with and serving the firm’s clients, and from luring employees subsequent to their exit.
PwC has also menaced with the revocation of annuities from some partners who aligned with Unity, according to three of the people. They added that some PwC partners departing for rival firms have had their annuities completely rescinded.
Annuities are a post-employment remuneration flow financed by PwC’s profits, a sought-after benefit distinct from standard retirement funds.
According to one person at PwC, the prospect of exiting partners having to relinquish their annuities has resulted in an internal musical “slogan” circulating: “Talk to Unity, lose your annuity.”
An individual associated with PwC stated that partners who affiliate with rival companies “customarily” surrender their annuities.
PwC has also revoked eligibility for its medical plan for some partners transferring to Unity, said one of the individuals, characterizing the action as “insignificant”.
Several partners transitioning to Unity were initially informed they would be able to maintain eligibility for the program so they could persist in consulting their long-term physicians, according to two of the people. However, an individual associated with PwC maintained that no such assurance had been given and that retirees transferring to rival organizations “habitually” had their privileges revoked.
One of the people cognizant of the situation said PwC’s legal letters seemed like an effort to exhaust the niche firm, while another stated the Big Four firm was “behaving like a tormentor”.
Burdensome departure procedures are regarded by many in the sector as a disincentive to partners affiliating with competing companies. One former PwC partner who was deprived of their annuity characterized the departure discussions as “dreadful”, severing their connection with the firm.
PwC stated: “Partners . . . understand the duties, accountabilities, and limitations that accompany their position, and these are offset by attractive remunerations. PwC also has a duty to equitably safeguard its concerns, especially when limitations might have been violated.”
Amitrano addressed partners prior to this article’s release, admitting that press reports might be “disconcerting” but adding that the firm was dedicated to “handling all our past associates with supreme deference”.
A person associated with PwC said that the firm dispatched legal correspondence solely upon suspicion of a violation of its partner contract.
Unity Advisory and Warburg Pincus refused to provide a statement.
Unity’s onboarding materials for fresh recruits explicitly outlined the legal limitations applicable to individuals transferring from other companies, said an individual privy to them.