Introduction
December marked a busy period for professional services, with firms focusing on leadership appointments, restructuring, and transformation across key sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and cybersecurity. Market activity reflected strong growth and investment, as BDO UK surpassed £1 billion in annual revenue and private equity backing fueled expansion for consultancies like Sia Partners and Valcon. These trends underscore a continued emphasis on innovation, talent acquisition, and sector-specific expertise to navigate evolving client demands.
Key People Moves
Analysys Mason appoints Oli Barnett as Partner to lead the UK Transformation and Value Creation practice. He comes with a wealth of experience from Toyota, Accenture and BT, and will be working closely with Consulting and Research teams across the UK, Germany and Nordics.
Polly Ruhland strengthens FTI Consulting as a Senior Managing Director in it’s Food, Agriculture & Beverage practice. She has an extensive background in leadership excellence, cultural transformation and organizational change management.
Alvarez and Marsal have announced the addition of Elan Ben-Avi to their Restructuring and Turnaround practice. Formerly serving as a Managing Director at Ankura, he brings 20 years of restructuring advisory experience to his new role.
Arthur D. Little have strengthened their healthcare and Life Sciences Practice with Keon Segers in the Belgium office. He joins from Deloitte and brings 25 years experience in the Life Sciences and Consulting space.
Richard Horne was announced as the new leader of the National Cyber Security Centre, continuing to strengthen the UK’s Cyber Resilience. Horne was the former leader of the PwC’s Cyber Security practice.
RSM UK strengthen their Business Transformation team with the addition of Juan Federico. Juan will be focusing on the Financial Services industry, supporting clients on Enterprise Performance Management and wider Transformation Solutions.
Alvarez and Marsal have boosted their Turnaround and Restructuring practice with the addition of Guarav Malhotra. He comes with extensive experience in Financial Distress Transformations, Liquidity Enhancements and Developing and Optimizing cost reductions across a wide range of industries.
Stephane Crosnier has joined INVERTO, A BCG Company’s Paris office to strengthen their French Leadership team and lead their Global Supply Chain and Resilience Centre of Excellence.
FTI Consulting have announced the introduction of Paul Hirst to the Global Construction, Projects and Assets team and will be leading the Advisory and Transformation Practice.
Kyle Lemmon has rejoined Alvarez and Marsal after 8 years, as a Managing Director to strengthen the Private Equity Performance Improvement Group.
FTI Consulting have welcomed Donald Featherstone, in the UK, from Ankura to their EMEA Restructuring and Turnaround practice.
Interpath appoints Robert Capper to launch and build its new Asset Tracing and Complex Investigations team.
Forvis Mazars Group have announced a new global leadership structure. Herve Helias will now serve as chair, he leads the GCB in governance, strategy sight and oversight. Additionally, Pascal Jauffret will serve as the CEO, focusing on executing decisions and strategy and delivery.
MHA welcome James Smith to lead the Global Mobility Practice, Smith comes with 20 years of experience within the Professional Services, with over a decade at Big 4 firms.
Key People Promotions
Martina Keane has been appointed EY’s Financial Services Leader for the UK and Ireland, effective from January 1st 2025. Her new role will see her lead some of EY’s largest global clients, while leading over 300 partners and 6000 staff joining the Global FS Leadership team. Martina previously served as EY’s EMEIA’s Financial Services Chief Operating Officer, having joined the firm in 1998. She takes over from Anna Anthony who will become EY’s UK and Ireland Regional Managing Partner.
Deloitte have announced Jason Salzetti as the Chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP, he takes over from Dan Helfrich. Jason comes with 30 years of experience at Deloitte in large scale and technology transformations. He currently serves as the US Government and Public Services Leader, his new roles comes into effect January 27th.
A long standing Partner at Capco, Rob Deakin has been appointed Head of the UK Energy Practice. With 20 years experience behind him. He is tasked with accelerating growth and building out the Energy Practice across the UK.
Market Intelligence
Sia Partners, having funded its organic growth and more than 20 acquisitions from its own reserves, has now opened up a fresh avenue of funding with the arrival of Blackstone as a minority shareholder. Full details of the deal have not been disclosed, however, Sia Partners confirmed the private equity group will inject to the tune of €250 million into the firm in return for a minority stake, with chief executive Courtecuisse retaining a significant majority stake.
The UK wing of BDO has reported annual revenues of more than £1bn for the first time in its 100-year history – with an 8.6% increase in income buoying the total to £1.02 billion for its latest financial year. Commenting on the results, managing partner Mark Shaw said, “In times of change and uncertainty, it makes sense that businesses turn to trusted advisers to guide them. Given our expertise, experience and position in the market, along with continued significant investment in our business, we have recorded a positive set of financial results.”
US Analyst firm HFS has released its latest assessment of the professional services landscape for Analytics, AI, Data and Automation, highlighting 11 companies as leaders in the domain. HFS, a US-headquartered research firm and an influential analyst firm in the professional services scene, assessed a number of factors, including the breadth and depth of offerings, the strength of technological solutions, but also the quality of intellectual property and talent. Ranked at the top level are 11 ‘market leaders’: Accenture, Cognizant, Eviden, EXL, EY, IBM Consulting, Infosys, KPMG, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, and WNS. Beyond the leading pack, well-known consultancies that ranked in the second tier of the HFS benchmark include Deloitte, Publicis Sapient, and PwC.
Valcon has become the latest European consultancy to take on backing from a private equity firm. Rivean Capital will back the transformation advisory brand, as it looks to accelerate growth across the continent. Geert van den Goor, CEO of Valcon commented, “This partnership marks a significant milestone in our journey to become the benchmark for digital transformation in Europe.”
Tata Consultancy Services has announced a new deal with Chorley Building Society to digitally transform its core banking system and support the society’s growth plans. The partnership builds on the consultancy’s momentum in the building society sector with a recent partnership with Mansfield Building Society announced earlier this year.