PwC has issued legal threats to senior figures at Unity Advisory, the boutique consultancy founded by its former UK chief operating officer Marissa Thomas, according to reporting by the Financial Times.

The [a[er reported that the Big Four firm had sent a series of letters to key partners at Unity as tensions escalated between the two sides. People familiar with the matter told the newspaper the correspondence was “threatening” in tone and reflected a sharp deterioration in relations between Thomas and PwC’s UK senior partner Marco Amitrano.

Unity was launched last year with $300mn in backing from Warburg Pincus and co-founded by Thomas alongside former EY UK chair Steve Varley. The start-up has recruited several former PwC partners, including some who had been asked to take early retirement in 2024.

According to the FT, PwC has warned some former partners who joined Unity that they risk losing post-retirement annuities funded from the firm’s profits. Three people familiar with the matter told the newspaper that annuities had been threatened in certain cases, while a person close to PwC said partners who move to competitors “routinely” forfeit such payments.

The outlet also reported that PwC had withdrawn access to its healthcare scheme for some departing partners who moved to Unity. One person familiar with the matter described the move to the newspaper as “petty”, while a person close to PwC said that retirees joining competitors “routinely” lose access and that no promises had been made to the contrary.

One former PwC partner who had their annuity removed described exit negotiations as “horrific”, saying that the process had destroyed their relationship with the firm. Another person who knows both Thomas and Amitrano likened the dispute to “a bit like a divorce… when friends break up and start competing, you get lots of people in the middle, stuck”, according to the newspaper.

In a statement to the paper, PwC said: “Partners are aware of the obligations, responsibilities and restrictions that come with their role, and these are balanced by competitive rewards. PwC also has a responsibility to fairly protect its interests, particularly where restrictions may have been breached.”

Before publication of the report, Amitrano wrote to partners acknowledging that media coverage could make for “uncomfortable reading” but said the firm was committed to “treating all of our former colleagues with the utmost respect”.

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