As summer comes to an end, where we expect client demand for professional services to die down, it continues steadily. We have time now to reflect on the summer, the busiest promotion season in recent memory, and plenty of senior appointments to start on growth mandates as of the fall. Here, we bring you essential news and people moves across consulting.
People Moves
Matt Austen, a longstanding Oliver Wyman Partner and the firm’s European Head of the Financial Services practice, joins NatWest Group as Director of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Sustainability. Matt Austen will sit on the bank’s Executive Committee from early September.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have made several promotions within their EMESA (Europe, Middle East, South America, Africa) leadership team, including Finland-based Santeri Kirvelä’s appointment as regional leader of the Technology & Digital Advantage practice, and Mai-Britt Poulsen becoming the new Net-Zero Leader.
In anticipation of macroeconomic uncertainty, the UK arm of KPMG’s Restructuring team has strengthened its leadership with a trio of senior appointments. Brian Horn, Chris Coley and Paul Richards join from AlixPartners, Kroll and Alvarez & Marsal respectively, bringing a cumulative 70+ years of experience within the space with them.
UK-based operational improvement consultancy, Newton, has welcomed Leon Smith as a Partner in its Consumer & Retail practice. Leon joins from PwC, where he was a Partner in the Operations Consulting practice.
Alvarez & Marsal Spain have established a Valuations and Business Modelling practice through the hire of Manuel Cortés as a Managing Director. Joining from PwC’s Valuations team, Manuel will lead A&M’s practice in the region.
In an overhaul of senior executives, the bank has also named Deutsche Bank veteran Dixit Joshi as the new Group CFO, based out of London.
In line with the firm’s investment into their Sustainability strategy and reporting capabilities, Deloitte Netherlands have hired two Senior Partners; Arjan de Draaijer and Wim Bartels, who both join from KPMG. The duo bring with them more than 50 years combined experience in the space.
Bleuzenn Pech de Pluvinel has joined Accenture as Global Head of Private Equity, coming from BCG, where she has a track record of delivering Strategy work and other M&A projects for PE clients. She is also actively involved in DEI initiatives at the senior level and has been throughout her career.
Martin Kieckebusch joins EY-Parthenon’s ever-growing Automotive Strategy practice as a Partner, based in Stuttgart. Previously a Partner at Porsche Consulting, Martin boasts a 25 year career in the automotive sector, having held roles across industry and consulting.
Supply chain strategy and procurement expert, Gorazd Vrbica, re-joins AlixPartners’ German team as a Managing Director, based in Munich. Since leaving the firm in 2014, Gorazd has held an MD position at Alvarez & Marsal, as well as, most recently, Chief Procurement Officer at Connected Commerce business, Diebold Nixdorf.
Kimberly Johnston has joined PA Consulting as a Partner in their North America Energy & Utilities Practice and a member of PA’s Climate Response unit, based out of Texas, USA. She joins from EY’s Americas Power and Utilities Practice where she was also a Partner. Similarly, across the pond, Anthony Legg joins PA’s UK Energy & Utilities practice as a Partner, also joining after a six-year tenure at EY.
BCG’s specialist Supply Chain & Procurement business, Inverto, continues its European growth with the hire of Giovanni Grillo, to establish and lead their new Milan office. Giovanni joins from Eendigo in Spain, where he was Managing Partner.
Dublin-based Partner Gary O’Sullivan has been elected to lead Sia Partners’ UK & Ireland operations. After originally joining the French firm in 2020 following the acquisition of his business, Pathfinders, Gary now makes the transition to Managing Partner UK&I, as of August 2022.
Alvarez & Marsal Middle East has named two new Managing Directors, Faisal Shaikh and Hazim Almegren. Hazim joins as a senior member of the Financial Services practice, and Dubai-based Faisal now leads Alvarez & Marsal’s Corporate Finance practice in the Middle East.
Roland Berger strengthens its Middle East capabilities through the promotion of several senior members of the team, including Santiago Castillo to Senior Partner, and German national Marc Bayer to Director. Sourabh Kaushal and Mohamad Yamout also join at the Principal level.
KPMG has appointed Chucrallah Haddad as the new Head of Advisory of its Lower Gulf practice. Chucrallah has a career in advisory spanning more than 25 years, including a 20-year tenure at Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.), followed by a brief stint as Executive Advisory Leader in the Prime Minister’s Office in the UAE.
After a 16 year career at Deutsche Bank, Adam Rauncher joins Houlihan Lokey’s Capital Markets Group as a Managing Director, based out of New York. He will focus on capital markets coverage for financial institutions for the firm’s corporate and financial-sponsor-backed clients.
PwC UK has named a new Telecommunications sector leader in Russell Taylor. With a 30-year career at the firm already under his belt, including stints in Tokyo and the Middle East, Russel brings a wealth of sector knowledge and deals experience to the role.
Kamal Aissa joins Kearney’s Partnership in the Middle East, based in the UAE. He initially joined the firm in 2008 following his studies in Germany, and has since developed a specialism in the Travel, Transportation and Infrastructure space in the region.
AlixPartners have a new Global CFO, following Lisa Carnoy’s stepping down. Daniel Ritter, an AlixPartners 20-year veteran, brings his knowledge of the market and technical expertise to provide maximum value to the PE-backed firm.
Jeffrey Coombs has joined Deloitte as Co-Head of Value Creation for Financial Services, joining the Big 4 firm from Alvarez & Marsal. Rob Southern will also come across into the Value Creation team from A&M.
EY’s Global AI Leader and Chief AI Officer, Nigel Duffy, is stepping down from the role after more than five years. During his tenure, Nigel has transformed the way EY uses AI, as well as establishing the firm as a leader in the AI space.
Market Intelligence
On the back of continuous high growth, Alvarez & Marsal have simultaneously launched two new offices in the Middle East. In addition to the existing Dubai office, A&M have planted their new offices in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, with a view to doubling its headcount to over 200 consultant in the region by the end of 2023.
The UK branch of the global IT consulting firm CGI has been selected as the strategic partner for Home Office’s Police & Public Protection Technology portfolio, meaning it will deliver on technology solutions for the Home Office’s ongoing digital transformation.
Global consulting firm PwC have removed the need for a minimum 2.1 degree for its graduate-level new entries in the UK. The move comes following years of lower degree levels after the disruption caused by the pandemic, as well as a nationwide call for increased diversity in its staff.
The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (IPA Qatar) has signed a double deal with PwC, which will see the accounting and consulting giant help the agency attract international investors and expand its own footprint in the country.
In their first acquisition since 2019, Roland Berger have bought German consulting firm POLARIXPARTNER, a 30-person outfit focusing on strategy, engineering, and cost and process optimisation topics in manufacturing-oriented sectors such as automotive, medtech, pharma, and aerospace.
Continuing its expansion into the Central and Eastern Europe region, consulting film L.E.K. have opened their second office in Poland, based in Warsaw. In addition to the new office, L.E.K. will continue to expand its CEE presence by growing the first Polish office, based in Wroclaw.
Pfizer has agreed to acquire Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4bn. GBT is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and delivery of life-changing treatments for underserved patient communities, starting with sickle cell disease, amongst others.
IT service management company, Wavestone, has acquired UK-based consultancy PEN Partnership. Founded in 2012, PEN Partnership is a specialist management consultancy focusing on customer experience, operational excellence, and change delivery services.
US-based mobility company Lyft has formed a new media division, Lyft Media, to consolidate and expand its advertising capabilities. The move comes in line with the growing market, as Lyft tries to compete with rivals Uber for advertising around car services.
Boston Consulting Group have bolstered their APAC offering by opening a new office in Auckland New Zealand. Managing Director & Partner Phillip Benedetti will lead the newly-established office.
French utility company Veolia confirmed it would sell Suez’s UK waste business to Australia’s Macquarie Group for around $2.4bn, in a deal aimed at resolving antitrust concerns.
Bain & Company is taking a minority stake in Kohlberg-backed Life Sciences commercialisation firm, Trinity Life Sciences, as part of a new strategic partnership. The move will reinforce Bain’s technical expertise within biopharma and medtech, to complement their existing range of transformation and strategic services.
PA Consulting has partnered up with Design Partners to bolster their design capabilities. The partnership will strengthen their offering within product strategy, design for sustainability, wearable technology, human interaction devices, and medical device design.
Capgemini has paired up with cross-platform game engine Unity to support clients in building experiences in the Metaverse. This follows similar moves from Big 4 firms PwC and KPMG, who have also recently invested large sums into the digital experience technology.
Boston Consulting Group will be the Exclusive Consulting Partner for the COP27 summit, to be held in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November of this year.
AXA have picked technology firm Cognizant as their preferred partner to transform their digital operations in the UK and Ireland. The insurance giants have unveiled their plan to build a more digitally-focused and agile organisation, leveraging more data and creating a more secure business model.
Dubai-based Salesforce consultancy Changi Consulting have joined forces with Publicis Sapient to reinforce their digital transformation capabilities in the Middle Eastern region. Since its founding in 2010, Changi has become one of the premier Salesforce partners in the UAE.
Boston Consulting Group have acquired San Francisco-based Formation, the market leader in AI-based personalisation and optimisation. The acquisition is the most recent in a series of strategic investments into AI-enabled software companies.
Accenture become the newest international consultancy to launch a new office in Birmingham. The new office will offer more than 1500 jobs, supporting clients across the West Midlands and South West regions.
German-American software company Celonis, recently valued at $13bn globally, have received a $1bn investment from the Qatar Wealth Fund. The investment may mark the beginning of a sharp growth from the software giant, including the acquisition of other companies.
In music news, private equity giant Blackstone has bid for the rights to the entire catalog of Pink Floyd, in a move to strengthen its ever-expanding music rights collection.
Just two years after PwC pulled out of its contract to audit Quintessentially, following admissions that the luxury firm made £7 million in errors on its accounts, BDO have done the same. The termination of the relationship comes after a breakdown in the relationship between the companies.