Deloitte axes half of UK executive team

Deloitte has overhauled its leadership in the UK, replacing half of the 16-person executive team including the managing partner in an unexpected reshuffle.

Eight of the accounting firm’s most senior partners are set to leave the leadership team to make way for six newcomers, according to people briefed on the changes and documents seen by the Financial Times.

Only one of the new appointments is a woman and the reshuffle will reduce female representation at Deloitte’s top table from 37.5 per cent to 28.6 per cent.

The shake-up, which was not communicated to staff until the firm was approached by the FT on Thursday, is set to be billed internally as a “refresh” and presented as business-as-usual, according to two people at Deloitte.

“Professional services firms don’t normally do overhauls of management teams. They do it slower,” said one senior recruiter when told about the overhaul.

The shake-up comes despite partners being paid an average of more than £1mn for the second year running in the 12 months to May — more than their rivals at EY, KPMG and PwC.

The moves come as Deloitte announced that Richard Houston had been re-elected for a second four-year term as chief executive of Deloitte’s North-South Europe region, which includes the UK, parts of Europe and the Middle East. He has the power to pick the executive team.

The changes were driven partly by a desire to replace older members of the management team with younger partners who would be young enough to run for election as chief executive at the end of Houston’s second term in 2027, said one of the people at the firm.

The most senior of the eight partners departing the executive team is Stephen Griggs, who took on the newly created role of UK managing partner in September 2020 and who has decided to retire next year.

He will be replaced in June 2023 by Philip Mills, who has led the firm’s global tax and legal practice since 2019.

The other people departing the executive team, which include the heads of three of Deloitte’s five service lines, will remain at the firm and will have “important” roles, Deloitte said.

Three women are set to leave the UK leadership. Anne-Marie Malley, head of consulting, is the most high-profile of the trio, having overseen a 44 per cent rise in revenues since 2019 when she became the first woman to lead the practice.

The changes will reduce the size of the group from 16 to 14. Deloitte said two of the new leadership team would be from ethnic minority backgrounds. All of the current leadership team is white.

The head of risk advisory and financial advisory service lines, Andy Morris and Richard Bell, are among those to leave the executive group.

The other new appointments are Rob Cullen, who takes over the consulting division; Charindra Pathiwille, who will lead the financial advisory service line; and Cindy Chan, who will take over the risk advisory unit.

Nick Turner has been appointed managing partner for growth while Duncan Farrow-Smith was installed as chief strategy officer.