Belgium Annual Review 2008

"In a complex world, we create value by reassuring business leaders that their business is compliant and focused on optimal performance."

In this article Roger shares his ideas and insight on:

The World in perspective 

In response to the pressure to deliver sustainable growth, the world's business leaders continue to look towards emerging markets when seeking new opportunities. By 2050 the combined economies of the top 7 emerging countries are expected to exceed those of today's G7 countries. PwC is already there, helping clients pave the way to growth both at home and abroad.

Whilst confidence amongst CEOs on their ability to grow revenues has been very high in recent years, it has taken a knock over the last few months as the world's stock markets have been on a roller coaster ride driven by the subprime credit concerns in the United States. Whilst we expect CEOs to be more cautious about growth as they go into 2008, the recent credit crisis has only reinforced the increasingly connected and global world in which we do business, and has re-emphasised the need and desire to look beyond your home markets for new growth and new opportunities.

At PwC Belgium, we can look back on a very positive 2007. We booked revenue growth of 7.5%, with particularly strong results in the domain of tax and assurance services. At the same time our headcount rose to 1,212 full-time equivalents, an increase of 4.6% compared to the previous year. The sectors in which we were most active in supporting our clients were industrial products, retail and consumer businesses, government and public services and banking and capital markets.

Creating a distinctive experience

During the past year, we have reflected on those attitudes and behaviours that our clients value most in a professional services provider. These include a willingness to invest in durable relationships, to share and to collaborate; a capability to see issues from their perspective and a focus on building value. In short, we saw that clients want to work with people who bring both their heads and their hearts to work with them. In light of this, we have taken a fresh look at the way we interact with our clients and with our people, then commenced actively promoting the values, attitudes and behaviours that help deliver the distinctive PwC client service Experience.

Catalysts for business improvement

Global corporations are confronted daily by the need for change. They are constantly re-inventing themselves to stay attuned to evolving circumstances. To retain public trust, they must maintain the highest levels of regulatory compliance while demonstrating genuine commitment to transparency. On the other hand, authorities are enhancing regulatory processes designed to mitigate risks for investors while increasing the efficiency and attractiveness of their economies. Not only is this a challenge for our clients, it is a challenge we are facing ourselves as we continue to move towards an increasingly uniform and regulated business model for the accounting profession.

PwC welcomes this challenge. In Belgium, we have a strong reputation for working effectively with governments, regulators and corporations to enhance public trust, optimise organisational structures and ensure capital market efficiency. Recent large-scale regulatory work has restored public trust to a large extent but has created a complex environment of multi-country regulatory requirements. Along with our clients, we have built up an impressive track record of ensuring conformity within this environment, attaining the right level of compliance and creating the peace of mind that enables business leaders to focus on other challenges.

Taking the risk out of uncertainty
Business challenges mean decisions have to be made. However, this need not happen in a haze of uncertainty. Risk management is a key to good decision making as it encompasses all actions that can be taken to reduce doubt. Which is why clients turn to us: they value our expertise, the relationships they have with us, and our capability to act as objective sounding boards. PwC Belgium is a trusted partner that helps clients optimise their decision making in the areas of finance, corporate governance and compliance. We give them reassurance that they are taking into account all the right factors.

Our expert advice and insight cover all domains of our clients' business - from successful mergers and acquisitions that deliver the value promised, to implementing balanced, sensible tax strategies. We have an important role in managing the interface between the public sector and the business community, as champions of administrative simplification and supporting governments in making key decisions. By helping all to manage risk, we are laying part of the foundations for sustainable economic growth.

Building relationships 

Looking at business challenges from different angles lies at the heart of our culture. We listen to our clients and understand the challenges they are facing. Our relationship with them is evolving in new dimensions: nowadays auditors provide a broad perspective on the entire range of clients' issues. At PwC Belgium, we form multi-disciplinary teams to provide the best solutions. We bring together individuals with outstanding expertise who will listen, think and act as an integrated team - that is what the PwC Experience is about. Having a thorough understanding of our clients' environments, we truly contribute to the achievement of their goals.

Talented people; enduring quality 

The strength of organisations can be measured by the quality of their people. With the new, technologysavvy generation entering the workplace, they are bringing new priorities and fresh views on work/life balance, flexibility, diversity, mobility, the environment and community action. These views will increasingly influence the way in which companies develop. Organisations that succeed in leveraging that diversity and those ideals will be those that will stand out a decade from now.

We are convinced that outstanding advice can only be given by outstanding people. So investing in people is the cornerstone of our firm. Our extensive training and development programmes are tailored to individual needs – and they deliver highly skilled specialists who are innovative, proactive thinkers.

The PwC brand is one of the top 100 global brands - a major source of competitive advantage - and the heart of our brand is the quality of our people. In this edition of our Annual Review, we want to bring forward our people and let them talk about PwC alongside clients with whom we have built enduring relationships, sharing the experiences and insights from projects or talking about the PwC culture and values.

Taking responsibility 

We believe strongly that each of us is responsible for using our talents and resources to help others, beyond adding value to clients' businesses. Our people actively participate in addressing social and environmental issues via our Responsible Leadership programme of pro bono work and volunteering. Through employee involvement and commitment we make responsible leadership a reality. It's our way of giving back to the community.

We will continue to deepen the relationships with all our stakeholders, whether clients, employees or the community at large. I truly believe that it is only through sustainable relationships with all of our stakeholders that we can successfully address our clients' issues, enable real improvements in business performance and deliver a distinctive service that sets us apart.

Sincerely,

Roger Heijens
Chairman PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium