December was a quieter month for moves, but our market is back in business in January. The first month of what looks like it’ll be a more promising year is done, and we have the most significant people moves, partnerships, and acquisitions.
With Davos recently wrapped up, this is a fantastic time for announcements that will set the tone of global business strategy for the year to come.
People Moves
Jessica Frame has become the new Managing Partner for the London office of the Boston Consulting Group. Frame has spent almost a decade at the firm, in roles on either side of the Atlantic.
In early December, Lisa Quest of Oliver Wyman was appointed Head of UK with responsibility for Ireland. In her new role, Lisa takes over from David Gillespie and reports to Christian Edelmann, Managing Partner for Europe. She will lead the firm’s UK and Ireland businesses while continuing to co-head the Public Sector practice across Europe.
Alvarez & Marsal expands its Digital practice in EMEA with two Managing Directors, John Woods and Karim Chaabouni. John joins A&M’s Digital Supply Chain and Operations practice, while Karim will spearhead growth of A&M’s Digital Customer Experience team.
Hugo Parkinson has been appointed to lead Bain & Company’s Advanced Manufacturing & Services practice in EMEA, leading teams in helping Bain’s advanced manufacturing clients across strategic and operational needs.
Mercer has appointed Phil Parkinson as lead of its Investments and Retirement practice in the UK. Parkinson will join Mercer’s UK leadership team and will oversee Mercer UK’s investments and retirement business strategy, financial institutions, and endowments and foundations, among others.
Palash Banerjee has joined PA Consulting from IBM. As a Partner in the firm’s Energy and Utilities practice, he will look to drive transformation and strategy for clients through data, digital and agile methods.
AlixPartners announces new global leaders for four employee resource groups. Dr. Markus Bolte, Latonya Jones Callaway, Scott Cockerham, and Kelly Thompson will lead the firm’s Working Parents, Black Professionals Network, Military and Uniformed Services Team (MUST), and PrideMatters ERGs, respectively.
Analysys Mason has hired Simon Sherrington as a Research Director in its Networks practice in the UK. This means Sherrington will return to the firm after 13 years away.
Patrick Siebert, Managing Director at A&M, is promoted to Co-Head of the firm’s European Corporate Transformation Service (CTS) practice in Hamburg. He brings 17 years of experience advising senior management and boards on improving top and bottom-line performance.
Kearney, in the Middle East, welcomes Abdulaziz R. Thahen back as Partner and new Riyadh Office Lead. A Kearney alumnus, he joins the firm again after the last three years working at the highest levels of the KSA government.
Deutsche Bank names ex-Citi banker Pierpaolo Di Stefano as EMEA VP Origination & Advisory. Over the past four years, he has been CEO at Italian lender Cassa Depositi and Prestiti (CDP) and MD at CDP Equity.
Interpath Advisory brings on board Stuart Irwin, Kenneth Fennell, and Mark Degnan as Managing Directors. Ken Fennell (from Deloitte) and Mark Degnan (Deloitte) will join the firm’s Irish office, while Stuart Irwin (KPMG) will be based in Northern Ireland.
Melanie Nakagawa joins Microsoft as the firm’s new Chief Sustainability Officer. She has almost two decades of environmental sustainability experience across policy, business, and technology, and has most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Climate and Energy on the National Security Council at the White House.
Marc Lakner becomes the new Managing Director for Kearney Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He succeeds Dr. Martin Eisenhut, who is moving to industry and becoming CEO of TransPak AG.
Michael F. Strohmer has been appointed Kearney’s new global lead of the firm’s Strategic Operations practice, in co-leadership with Suketu Gandhi. Michael has been with the firm for 21 years and been extremely active in the procurement and operations landscape.
After more than twenty years at Capgemini Invent, Benjamin Dawes in the Benelux has moved to Methis Consulting. With Capgemini, Dawes held several leadership roles, most recently of the Energy & Utilities industry branch in Belgium, responsible for the energy, water, oil & gas, and renewable energy sectors.
FTI Consulting has strengthened its team in Spain with Enrique Baranda, who has been appointed a Managing Director. Based out of FTI’s Madrid office, Baranda serves as Co-Leader of the firm’s Business Transformation practice in Spain, a role he holds alongside Eduardo Díaz, a former Strategy&, Accenture and Big Four consultant who has held the sole remit for the past three years.
Mirko Warschun will join the European Leadership team of Kearney with a mandate of leading the growth strategy execution for Europe. He previously led the firm’s European Consumer Industries and Retail practice.
KPMG Law UK appoints Stuart Bedford as its new Head of Law. Stuart will join in April from Linklaters.
Jan Engelke hands over responsibility for Simon-Kucher & Partners Switzerland to Petra Knuesel. Jan will remain with the company as a Senior Partner and Chairman of the Board.
Louise Sunderland has joined EY as a Partner in its UK Government and Infrastructure consultancy practice. An experienced former senior public servant, Sunderland will help the firm’s clients deliver enhanced public services across the UK.
Deloitte has named Rolf Driesen the next CEO of its Belgium organisation. The Managing Partner of the firm’s consulting business will succeed current CEO, Piet Vandendriessche, as of 1 June next year, after more than 230 partners in Belgium cast their vote.
FTI Consulting has strengthened its Technology business in the DACH region with two (senior) Managing Directors: Jerry Lay and Dominic Piernot. Based in Switzerland, Jerry Lay has been appointed a Senior Managing Director in the firm’s Technology division, and Dominic Piernot has joined as a Managing Director in the Düsseldorf office, bringing across experience in discovery, investigations, and data protection.
A&M Germany welcomes Managing Director Götz Klink who will co-lead the firm’s Industrial Practice together with Florent Maisonneuve. Mr. Klink brings in his experience with a range of industries, including automotive, aerospace and defence, machine building, chemicals, and high-tech.
EY welcomes Jamie Miller as CFO of EY and of the new proposed public company. She was previously at Cargill and, before that, GE, bringing across experience in the public markets and business acumen that will support EY in their transition.
Ahmed Butt joins EY’s Law practice in Dubai to lead and build out the firm’s Financial Services sector legal team across the MENA region. Ahmed has spent 22 years, including 16 years in the MENA region, advising clients in the Financial Services sector on both regulatory and transactional topics.
AlixPartners adds Uwe Kissmann as a Partner & Managing Director and will lead the firm’s Cybersecurity Team in EMEA. He is based in the Zurich office. Uwe brings extensive experience helping clients transform their cybersecurity and information security operations.
Alvarez & Marsal has launched Sovereign Advisory Services (SAS), its new global sovereign advisory capability and appointed former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Reza Baqir, to lead it.
Axel Weber joins BCG as a Global Senior Advisor, bringing a wealth of experience from his academic, regulatory, central banking and business career, which has included professorships in international economics and monetary theory, serving as President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and more recently as Chairman of UBS Group AG.
KPMG has strengthened its leadership team in Saudi Arabia with Robert Ptaszynski. Appointed as Head of Digital & Innovation, Robert Ptaszynski leads KPMG’s multidisciplinary team that helps clients with digital transformation.
Denis Dorssers has recently joined EY’s Financial Services Technology Consulting practice to further drive growth across the MENA region. Denis has more than 24 years of technology consulting and technology transformation.
KPMG names its longstanding Kuwait boss Rasheed Al-Qenae as its new Chairman for the Middle East, South Asia, and Caspian region. He leads over 10,000 people in 21 countries.
Three new Partners have been appointed to EY-Parthenon in the UK. Suraj Ramaprasad, Darshan Vora, and Karen Crum will take on senior responsibilities within the firm’s strategy practice, specialising in digital and technology, health and wellness, and customer and growth strategy respectively.
Stephan Ruehl joins Strategy&’s Energy, Utilities and Resources practice in Germany. Stephan is a proven transformation expert in the development of business model strategies, end-to-end optimization, cost and efficiency programs, and process-oriented reorganisations to support the decarbonisation of the energy industry.
The technology practice of FTI Consulting has appointed Sam Davies as a Managing Director. The blockchain expert arrives after having spent five years driving blockchain solutions with EY.
FTI Consulting‘s Middle East offices announce the appointments of Nilesh Ashar and Sameep Uchil to form a newly established tax practice in the Corporate Finance and Restructuring segment. Mr. Ashar will lead the Middle East tax practice, and Mr. Uchil will focus on M&A tax and restructuring matters.
INVERTO expands its management team with three new Managing Directors: Dr Gökhan Yüzgülec, Philipp Polterauer, and Mohamad Kaivan are now part of the management team. All three are promoted from Principals.
Bain has appointed Sebastien Lamy Co-Head of the firm’s Private Equity practice in Asia Pacific. With over 20 years of consulting experience, most of which in the Asia Pacific, Sebastien specialises in growth and portfolio strategy, fund strategy, M&A advisory and due diligence, and innovation. Most recently, he was leader of the region’s Infrastructure Investing practice.
A&M‘s U.S. Energy practice announces Managing Director Francois Bardi as its new Lead for its Oil & Gas and Mining sectors.
Peter Scharbert joins EY Consulting as a Partner in their Supply Chain & Operations practice in Germany. He will support the growth of the firm’s end-to-end Procurement Transformation business, which comprises value creation from strategic to operational procurement, as well as operating model design.
McKinsey & Company has named Dubai-based Senior Partner Hasan Muzaffar as the new Leader of its Middle East, Egypt, and Pakistan division. He leads over a thousand consultants in the region and will spearhead the firm’s further development in the region.
A&M’s Disputes and Investigations team welcomes Timothy Raab as a Managing Director and North America Mass Torts practice leader in Washington, D.C.
Roland Berger has strengthened its capabilities in waste and natural resource management with the hire of Darren Perrin in the UK, who brings more than two decades of technical consulting experience and comes over from Ricardo.
Kroll has boosted its Australian team with Chris Ives, who joins the firm’s Melbourne team. Appointed an Associate Managing Director in the Forensic Intelligence and Investigations practice, Ives brings around 15 years of experience in financial crime, anti-money laundering, fraud, asset recovery, and compliance.
Marija Simovic, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, is promoted to Co-Head of the firm’s Corporate Transformation Services practice in the UK. She brings more than 25 years of operational, supply chain, and change management experience at C-suite level.
A&M’s Disputes and Investigations team welcomes Nicholas DeLuca, a Managing Director in its Mass Torts practice in Washington, D.C. He brings over more than 20 years of experience, most recently having been at Ankura as a Senior Managing Director.
AlixPartners announced today that Scott Pinsonnault has joined AlixPartners in Dallas as a Partner & Managing Director. Scott brings deep experience in the energy industry as an advisor, investment professional, and technical practitioner.
Grigoris Zarifopoulos, the former Deputy Minister of Digital Governance of Greece, has joined Oliver Wyman as a Partner. He’ll be based in Athens.
Jasneet Paintal has recently joined EY’s MENA Financial Services Technology Consulting practice as a Partner to drive further growth across the region. He brings more than 22 years of experience in business and technology transformation programs.
Interpath Advisory has welcomed the arrival of Director Thomas Rawlinson, who has been appointed to lead the firm’s transaction services offering in Scotland and who joins from FTI.
AlixPartners announced that Justin MacFarlane has rejoined the firm, as a Partner and Managing Director in its global retail practice. He will be based in New York.
Walter Reinl joins Oliver Wyman as a Partner for the Insurance and Asset Management practice in the firm’s Zurich office. He brings extensive expertise in strategy, corporate development, and financial performance across the insurance sector across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Rachel Posner has been appointed Chief Client Officer for Kroll. Rachel, based in New York, will drive global client development and account management strategy for the firm in a newly created role.
Market Intelligence
Bain & Company has acquired Enterprise Blueprints, a provider of enterprise and solution architecture consulting services. Equiteq advised the former on its purchase of the UK-headquartered company.
BCG X officially launches, with Paris-based Sylvain Duranton at the helm.
McKinsey has acquired Iguazio, a leader in AI and machine learning. With the addition of Iguazio’s technology and a team of more than 70 data and AI experts, McKinsey is aiming to accelerate and scale AI deployments via their global QuantumBlack teams.
EY acquires ifb SE (ifb), an international consulting provider of transformation and compliance solutions, specialising in finance and risk based in Grünwald, Germany. It will now be called EY ifb and integrated into the larger EY business in the region.
PwC has retained the most valuable audit contract on the London Stock Exchange after overcoming a challenge from Deloitte to sign off the accounts of HSBC until 2034.
Chartham Paper Mill, a 284-year-old Kent business, operating near Canterbury, has appointed administrators from Interpath Advisory.
Deloitte is teaming up with Persefoni to roll out a new integrated solution to measure climate exposure, comply with new regulations, and make data-based decisions.
Accenture launches Velocity, its strategic platform to bring AWS-powered industry, cross-industry, and technology solutions to the market.
Strategy&’s brand will expand to West Africa this year. Starting in Nigeria, Strategy& West Africa will be managed by Olusegun Zaccheaus, who has an extensive track record of advising regulators, major corporate organisations, and new entities in financial services, consumer goods, and the public sector.
Boutique strategy advisory The Cambridge Group has joined PA Consulting. The US consultancy will enable PA to expand its presence across the region, providing it with a new office in Chicago.
EY US and Thomson Reuters launch new ESG tools as part of an expanded alliance between the two aimed at delivering solutions addressing business and government needs for supply chain transparency and policy tracking.
Kroll has acquired Appraisal & Valuation Consultants. The move aims to improve the former’s support for clients struggling with under-insurance caused by rising costs; Antony Attwell, CEO and co-founder of AVC, will become a Managing Director at Kroll.
73 Strings and Alvarez & Marsal announced their signing of a partner program agreement to deliver 73 Strings’ next generation portfolio monitoring and valuation digital solutions to their mutual clients.
LSEG and Microsoft launch 10-year strategic partnership for next-generation data & analytics and cloud infrastructure solutions; Microsoft will make significant equity investment in LSEG through acquisition of shares.
PwC Germany makes a small investment in IoT company ToolSense GmbH. With around 30 employees, the growth company has specialised in the development of an asset operations platform and IoT solutions for the digitization of machines, devices, and systems.
CGI has rolled out a new hub in the North-East of England, having collaborated with the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, aiming to bring new jobs to the region.
The British unit of Russian bank VTB has been placed in administration, after it was stung by sanctions following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Administrators from Teneo were installed for the process.
Sia Partners has opened a new office in Rotterdam, the firm’s second office in the Netherlands.
BearingPoint has completed the purchase of Levo Consultants. The Paris-headquartered advisory adds more than 30 staff to BearingPoint’s headcount.
Bain announces a worldwide strategic partnership with Schneider Electric, a leading global sustainability and engineering consulting business focused on energy management and decarbonization.
Accenture beefs up its technology consulting capabilities in DACH with SKS Group (500 staff), a SAP consultancy focused on the banking sector.
Teneo has purchased UK financial PR firm Tulchan for a reported £65 million. The deal is the latest move by Teneo to secure lucrative corporate communications advisory work.
Deloitte makes the announcement that working sustainably will soon be the default way of doing business at the company. A new ‘Clause Zero’ to be added to the firm’s contracts and engagement letters later in the year.
Further, Deloitte Germany acquires the Munich-based 27pilots with a team of around 40 employees and secures access to its “venture client solutions.” 27pilots offers services, technology and data to build, and improve and grow internal venture client competencies.
Business supplies firm Complete Business Solutions Group has been sold out of administration by professionals from EY-Parthenon. The move is reported to have saved more than 600 jobs across the UK.
The Middle East branch of Oliver Wyman has launched a new office in Abu Dhabi – taking its regional total to four. The launch follows soon after the firm’s acquisition of Booz Allen Hamilton’s MENA consulting business.
KKR will buy S&P Global’s engineering solutions business for $975m.
Siemens will acquire London-based consultancy Vendigital for an undisclosed fee. Made via strategic business unit Siemens Advanta, the investment in the UK company aims to further support Siemens’ industrial customers with digital and strategic consulting services.
Deloitte launches a new Digital Center in Joran, its 3rd in the Middle East following similar centres in Dubai and Riyadh.
Alvarez & Marsal’s Global Transaction Advisory Group (TAG) expands its footprint and services into Canada with the appointment of Toronto-based Scott Foster as Managing Director and practice lead.