As summer starts, the biggest players in consulting promote new Partners, bring on new senior talent, and solidify their plans for the next financial year. We see a clear drive for commercial, senior professionals who can support expansion, both geographically and growth into new markets. Meanwhile, the focus on AI doesn’t falter, and the Middle East continues to show potential.
People Moves
Bain brings Claus Helbing and Dr. Miroslav Lazic into Partner roles for the Enterprise Technology and Digital Transformation practices. Both have extensive expertise in the design and implementation of digital and IT transformations. Claus joins from BCG (MDP), while Miroslav joins from Kearney (MDP).
Roland Berger appoints Sheila Nazareth as a Partner to lead and build out the firm’s Aviation practice in the Middle East. She spent some 28 years with the Emirates Group, and most recently led KPMG’s Aviation Advisory practice.
Pierre Bosquet and Laurent Deduytsche join the leadership team at Strategy& France. Pierre will join Corporate Strategy activities in TMT, while Laurent joins the firm to develop the operational restructuring activities with the Business Recovery Services team and within Deals.
Business advisory firm FRP has announced Partner promotions across its UK services. FRP has been expanding its corporate finance, restructuring advisory, financial advisory, forensic services and business development teams, as well as support functions including IT and HR. They are Bilal Hasan, David Hinrichsen, Justin Matthews, Richard Sanfourche, Clare Quinn-Waters, Ben Jones, Sarah Cook, Phil Harris, Mark Hodgett, Matt Whitchurch, Jonathan Dunn, and Gemma Jones.
Peter Holmer-Bretlau has joined Skarbek Associates from Novartis. As the firm’s newest Principal Consultant, he brings a wealth of expertise and Life Sciences industry knowledge to the team in Denmark.
Emerton has strengthened its senior team in France with the hires of Franck Abihssira and Nicolas Daveau. The former specializes in the TMT space and joins from Tactis, while the latter joins the firm’s Data practice from Palantir Technologies.
Achim Lüder is the new boss of Marsh McLennan in Germany, covering Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe, while Martin Haep and Jens Florian-Jansen lead Mercer and Marsh in the region. Achim has been with the firm for over 20 years, similarly to Martin and Jens, the latter of whom is also Chief Market Officer at Marsh in Germany.
KPMG bolsters its leadership in the Lower Gulf with Joe Pacelli (Head of Tax), joining from Deloitte (Head of Clients & Markets, Global Lead Partner) and Antonio Tapia (Head of Transfer Pricing), joining from PwC (Transfer Pricing Director).
PA Consulting expands its Defence practice with five new Partners in the UK: Jeremy Berwick (ex-Dataminr), Tim Crofts (ex-Leidos), Kweilen Hatleskog (formerly independent advisor), Carl Roberts (ex-Naimuri), and Chris Rocks (ex-Serco).
Vicky Gala joins Kroll as an Associate Managing Director in the firm’s Forensics Investigations and Intelligence practice in India. He will advise clients on corporate governance, investigations, digital forensics, anti-bribery, crisis management, anti-trust, and regulatory topics.
WPI Economics brings economist Rob Fontana-Reval to its London office. He joins as the firm’s Chief Economist, a role he also recently held with the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, having spent the majority of his career in public service.
Accenture appoints Shaheen Sayed as its new lead for the UK and Ireland, leading a team of over 17,000 staff. She will take over the role from Simon Eaves at the start of September 2023.
A&M welcomes Nicole Bouquet (Senior Director, Washington DC) and Mona Lipson (Director, New York) to the ESG Advisory Services team, bringing 18+ years of experience each. Nicole focuses on ESG investing and corporate value, while Mona focuses on diversity and inclusion.
A&M welcomes newest MD Matthew Roche to Taxand. Specializing in tax technology, he will drive the growth of the firm’s digital tax approach from Chicago. Prior to joining A&M, he was at PwC, where he focused on enterprise technology solutions across the whole tax practice.
Deloitte promotes Louise Harvey, Saverio Mitrani, and Jamie Mehmood in the UK within the Performance Improvement team, the firm’s brand new business offering combining debt advisory, value creation, and corporate turnaround.
BCG’s Daniel Kaegi in Switzerland is promoted to Managing Director and Senior Partner. He has been with the firm for almost 20 years and is also Leader of BCG’s Climate and Sustainability and Operations practices in the region.
Jeroen Ceuppens, formerly at Deloitte, focusing on Operations and Life Sciences, has begun work as an independent consultant in Belgium.
Kyalo Burt-Fulcher joins pensions and investment advisory Isio as a Senior Manager, coming across from Deloitte, whose 200-strong pensions advisory business was previously acquired by Isio.
Derek Leith, EY Aberdeen Managing Partner, Global Oil and Gas Tax Leader and UK Sustainability Tax Leader, will leave the firm. He is succeeded in the regional office lead role by Moray Barber, currently head of tax for EY in Aberdeen. He joined the firm as a Partner in August 2020, having previously worked for Deloitte and KPMG.
Amanda Birkenstamm Bowker has joined the Global Transaction Tax team at A&M in Boston, coming over from KPMG. She has over 12 years of experience advising PE and corporate strategic clients, and significant experience with tax structuring and planning.
Andreas Kyrilis joins Bain’s Athens office from BCG as a Partner to lead Energy & Natural Resources and Advanced Manufacturing & Services efforts in the region. Andreas brings deep expertise across the Energy and Industrials value chain.
Benjamin Wimmer in Belgium joins Financial Advisory at Deloitte as a Director in the Debt and Capital Advisory team, led by Sebastiaan Preckler. He will be focusing on Energy, Resources, and Industrials, and Private Equity.
Colin Sheppard joins Kroll’s Cyber Risk business as EMEA Head of Incident Response in London. Colin has an extensive Digital Forensic and Incident Response track record in response to and recovery from cyber incidents.
Broadstone appoints Sharon Harwood-Davis as Client Consulting Director. She arrives from PwC, previously having been at Mercer. She has deep expertise in the Healthcare sector.
A&M expands its digital offering across EMEA. Lee Sankey in the UK joins as a Senior Adviser, while Frederico Teixeira (Switzerland) and Will De Ritter (UK, ex-PwC) join as Senior Directors.
Magnus Tyreman, Europe Managing Partner for McKinsey, is retiring from the firm after some 35 years. He has advised healthcare, telecommunications, and public sector clients on strategy, organization, and transformations. Massimo Giordano succeeds him from Milan.
Interpath has made senior hires in Ireland, as the firm continues its expansion in the region. Eamonn Richardson (ex-KPMG), Kieran Wallace (ex-KPMG), Liam Booth, Siobhan Connolly (ex-GECAS), Owen Travers and Kathryn Ward (ex-KPMG and independent consulting) join the team.
Slalom brings in Caroline Grant (from Accenture, where she led Accenture NW Strategy and Consulting) to head up its operation in Manchester. She leads a team of 120 consultants and staff.
EY US appoints Dante D’Egidio as Vice Chair of Americas Assurance and Katrina Kimpel as Vice Chair of the EY Professional Practice Group. Dante has over 25 years of experience serving publicly traded companies and most recently served as the US East Assurance Managing Partner, while Katrina was most recently Deputy Vice Chair of the Professional Practice Group.
Oliver Wyman Partner James Bryan in Madrid starts a new interim position on secondment as Everyday Banking Director across Savings, Personal Current Accounts, and Overdrafts at Lloyds Banking Group.
Karan Rana will be a new EY MENA Financial Services Consulting Partner. Karan has spent 15 years, a decade with EY, advising FS clients on transformations across MENA and the UK. He is part of the firm’s Financial Crime and Compliance practice.
Isio promotes Emma Hudson (Head of Midlands investment team) and Laura Higgins (Head of Bristol office) to Partner. Emma has been with the firm since 2021, previously at Mercer, and Laura since 2020, previously at KPMG.
A&M welcomes Managing Director and CFO Services North American Solution Leader, Tiffany Brown. Ms. Brown brings more than 20 years of experience advising on finance strategy and delivering next generation solutions.
FTI Consulting appoints Dr. Anke Nestler as Senior Managing Director, strengthening its economic consulting business. Dr. Nestler spent 15 years as Managing Partner at Valnes Corporate Finance, and was previously Managing Director in Linklaters’ CF practice.
Jonathan Roberts joins the general practice team of Moore Kingston Smith as a Partner in the UK. He joins from BDO, where he spent 17 years.
Keith Verville joins A&M as a Managing Director within the Private Equity Performance Improvement CFO Services practice in Houston, from AlixPartners, where he was focused on transformation, turnaround, and restructuring.
A&M welcomes new Senior Director Ellen Wolpin to the Private Client Services team in Miami. With more than 30 years of experience, she specializes in taxation related to high-net-worth individuals.
HKA welcomes Andrew Flower (previously A&M) and Matthias Cazier-Darmois (previously FTI Consulting) to its Partner leadership team in Paris. They have extensive experience in providing expert evidence in international arbitration
Sami Roumani joins Kearney’s Dubai office as a Principal in their Financial Services practice. He joins from a previous KSA General Manager at FIS in Saudi Arabia.
A&M welcomes new Managing Director Jeremy Blain to their Federal practice in Washington DC. Jeremy has deep expertise in delivering organizational transformation, process and financial improvement, and data analytic solutions to federal government organizations.
Khurram Ali who is appointed EY MENA Financial Services Risk Consulting Partner. Khurram has over 18 years of banking and consulting experience advising clients on Risk and Transformation solutions, specialising in quantitative analytics for financial risk management.
Implement Consulting Group continues to grow in Germany: Dr. Volker Hillebrand joins the team and strengthens Supply Chain and Procurement offerings. He joins from HÖVELER HOLZMANN, where he was a Partner.
EY announces the appointment of Ralf Eckert as Managing Partner, who will also lead the FS business in Germany. Eckert succeeds Thomas Griess, who has been responsible for EY Financial Services in Germany since 2019 and will leave the partnership this year.
HKA has brought in Stuart Ells, formerly at A&M, FRA, EMI Music) as its new Chief Growth Officer for the EMEA region.
Dominik Steffani (ex-BCG) joins Strategy& in Munich as a Senior Executive Advisor and Managing Director. Dominik brings more than 20 years of experience in advising global companies on procurement topics across various sectors such as automotive, consumer goods, industrial production, financial services and private equity.
A&M grows its Media & Entertainment practice, led by new Managing Directors Dr. Peri Shamsai (from Accenture, in New York) and Edward Hanapole (from IBM, in Florida), bringing onboard eight additional Managing Directors, two Senior Directors, and two Directors.
Babar Ali is appointed EY MENA Financial Services Tax Partner. Babar has more than 14 years of tax experience in Financial Services. He advises organizations on direct tax and related matters.
A&M Global Transaction Advisory Group strengthens its team with Bob Ruckh joining as a Managing Director in New York. With over 40 years of advisory experience, he brings extensive expertise in start-up investments, M&A, IPOs, divestitures, and carve-outs.
In the UK North West, Deloitte promotes Mel Wilson to Head of the Development Advisory team, and Ed Britton to leader of the region’s Planning team.
Domhnall McCormack joins A&M in their Software, Technology, and Services (STS) team, within Corporate Transformation Services in London. He has also been at ION, UBS, and Marsh.
Farouk Karreem will lead KPMG’s 800-person Audit business in Saudi Arabia and the Levant. He has been with KPMG his entire career, first in South Africa, then relocating to Saudi Arabia.
Kroll appoints Jacqueline Carmont as a Managing Director in the firm’s Restructuring practice in Singapore. Jacqueline will lead the Asia, Caribbean, and Africa restructuring operations and will be involved in the firm’s strategic planning and corporate development.
Rosie Campbell joins the Inclusive Leadership Board at KPMG UK. She is currently the Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and a Professor of Politics at King’s College London, as well as a Politics Professor at Birkbeck.
A&M expands its Financial Services practice by appointing four new senior leaders: Alan Coutts, and David Kane (from EY) into Asset Management, and Stuart Herron and Roberto Stucchi (from EYP) into Insurance and Banking respectively.
A&M welcomes Managing Director Ashley Taylor and Senior Director John Haining in Dubai to launch its Energy practice in the region. Their primary areas of concentration are corporate strategy, business transformation, and the design and implementation of sustainability and energy transition strategies.
PwC promotes partner Elisabeth Hunt in the UK to leader of its Energy & Resources practice. She succeeds Rob Turner, who had been UK Energy and Resources lead since 2022.
Deloitte in Saudi Arabia sees Hadeel Biyari becoming the first ever Saudi national to join the Partnership of its Indirect Tax practice.
Capgemini appoints Joachim von Puttkamer as Head of Financial Services in Germany. The sector includes both Banking and Insurance clients.
A&M appoints Sohin Chinoy as a Managing Director in the Automotive & Industrials Group (AIG) in Dallas. He brings more than two decades of consulting and M&A experience. His expertise bolsters the team’s strengths in operational performance improvement and enterprise transformations.
Chase Meyers joins Kroll’s Expert Services practice as a Managing Director. Chase has over 15 years of experience in the construction industry and will contribute to the growth of the firm’s North American Construction Disputes team.
PA Consulting welcomes Kata Cserep as the newGlobal Lead of its Aviation practice. She joins from ICF, where she spent the last 13 years.
Market Intelligence
Vodafone and CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong–based and Cayman Islands, which own Three in the UK–registered multinational conglomerate corporation, agreed to merge their UK telecommunication businesses.
OC&C Strategy Consultants is introducing fully equal paid parental leave for all employees. This benefit is implemented across all OC&C offices globally and is designed to empower parents to make case-specific decisions.
EY announces 966 new partner promotions worldwide. Proportionally, new Partners have increased compared to the previous year as EMEIA region achieved the greatest regional growth.
KPMG in the UK grows its artificial intelligence offering, with a new collaboration with MindBridge, which will enable the Big Four firm to automate part of its auditing function.
Eraneos has strengthened its presence in Germany with the acquisition of SMP Strategy Consulting, a Düsseldorf-based firm with 70 consultants.
The Boston Consulting Group has been selected for a new strategic review with Barclays. The mandate will cover all of the bank’s units, helping it to find ways to improve its underperforming share values.
Publicis Sapient acquires full stake in Publicis Sapient AI labs, an AI research and development joint venture formed in 2020 with data science consulting firm Elder Research and technology firm Tquila.
Grant Thornton’s auditing and consulting businesses are merging the two office locations in Hamburg, moving around 120 employees to the new location.
AlixPartners and NAX Group—a leading AI software company that unlocks data sets for corporates and investors—partner to build a corporate growth platform.
Italian energy giant Eni has entered exclusive talks to acquire private-equity backed gas and oil producer Neptune Energy after increasing its previous offer to just below $6bn.
Altas Partners, an American PE firm, agreed to invest in Mercer Advisors, a total wealth management and financial planning firm, financial terms as yet undisclosed.
South Africa and UK headquartered Investec acquires Capitalmind, an M&A advisory firm with 90 professionals across 5 European countries.
IBM Consulting has bolstered its support for its implementation. The company’s new Centre of Excellence for generative AI has already supported more than 100 clients. Rebranded from IBM Global Business Services in 2021, IBM Consulting, is the professional services and consulting arm of IBM.
UBS has completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse for $3.3bn. Credit Suisse was led by Thomas Gottstein, and UBS by Sergio P. Ermotti. Financial advisors on both sides included JP Morgan, Rothschild, Morgan Stanley, and Latham & Watkins, among others.
Carrefour is rolling out three tech solutions based on ChatGPT technology. These include an AI-powered shopping assistant for the website, enhanced product description sheets for Carrefour brand products, and streamlined support for purchasing processes, developed through Bain’s partnership with Microsoft.
Costa Coffee selects GEP Worldwide as its consulting and software partner for the transformation of its indirect procurement function.
Kroll announces that they are working in partnership with myGwork – LGBTQ+ professionals & allies to promote LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Kearney has launched a new family support package for its staff in Europe, which includes plans for expanded parental leave, monthly childcare subsidies, and greater support for fertility, adoption and in the instance of pregnancy loss.
Rolls Royce has brought on McKinsey to advise on streamlining its operations, fuelling questions about potential cost cutting measures it might implement.
SCALA has expanded its footprint to the US. The firm has appointed Wolf Liebchen (ex-DHL, independent consultant) to lead the new venture. Founded in 2001, SCALA helps companies across sectors with services including supply chain strategy, procurement, logistics optimisation, warehouse design, and transport.
Accenture to invest $3bn in Artificial Intelligence over the next three years, increasing the size of the AI team to 80,000 people.
KPMG in the UK launches Opening Doors to Opportunities, an initiative that will increase students’ exposure to their offices across the UK, as part of their commitment to develop the skills of a million young people by 2030.
Alcoholic beverage conglomerate Diageo has selected IBM Consulting as its digital consulting partner for the global roll-out of an SAP S/4 HANA upgrade.
100+ year-old Tuffnells Parcels Express has fallen into administration and hired Interpath Advisory for strategizing options for their remaining assets.
TA Associates, a global private equity firm, announced the completion of fundraising for its latest fund, TA XV, with total limited partner commitments at its hard cap of $16.5bn. It was launched in late 2022 and exceeded its initial target size.
FTI Consulting strengthens its M&A offering in the Benelux through an insurance-focused partnership with local player BHB Dullemond, as part of which they will undertake pre-deal and post-deal work together.
Bloomberg reports that a $3bn “whole-business securitisation” is being considered as a funding option by PE funds looking to acquire sandwich chain Subway.
IT consultancy Delaware grows its Salesforce practice with the acquisitions of Scalefactory and Cloud Innovation. Both companies join Delaware in its home market Belgium, and increase its headcount by approx. 60.
Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ had early talks to buy boutique investment bank Lazard, signaling to the AD’s continued interest in acquiring a major financial institution, as per Bloomberg.
FTI Consulting’s Office of the CFO expands across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. It supports finance functions to optimize performance, while supporting CFOs to drive enterprise value and business strategy, now with a dedicated EMEA team.
UK-based SLR Consulting has acquired Carnstone Partners Ltd and IBIS Consulting – adding a team of 150 sustainability professionals to its team in over ten countries.
Middle East alternative asset manager Investcorp Holding is looking to raise up to $600m from the listing of an investment vehicle (Investcorp Capital) in Abu Dhabi this year.
ADNOC Group, a state-backed energy company, approached German chemical producer Covestro for a potential takeover. Covestro’s shares increased by 7% this year, valuing the company at $8.2bn.
Blair Nimmo and Alistair McAlinden from Interpath Advisory are appointed joint administrators of Adastra Access Ltd. in the UK, suppliers of specialist access equipment in the construction industry after its going into administration.
Bain announces a strategic partnership with SAP. This partnership will guide clients via cloud-enabled ERP transformation projects.
Deloitte has resigned as auditor of Byju, India’s most highly valued start-up, on the basis that the education technology company had allegedly failed to hand over financial results for FY21/22.
The FT reports that “French group Ardian has amassed more than $20bn to buy stakes in private equity funds from investors, highlighting a corner of finance that is defying the broader slump in fundraising.”
IBM has agreed to acquire Apptio, a provider of financial and operational IT management and optimization software, from PE fund Vista Equity Partners for $4.6bn.
goetzpartners launches goetzpartners technologies, IT implementation service unit headed by Christian Imhof, who will expand the firm’s efforts from its HQ in Switzerland.
PwC is set to launch a flagship office and technology & innovation hub in Riyadh next year. After obtaining the required license, the company has officially inaugurated its new headquarters in the city.
QNB Group in the Middle East launches an enhanced digital banking experience for its customers, delivered in partnership with IBM (including IBM Consulting) and partner Mannai InfoTech.