KPMG UK Chairman Simon Collins seeking to take on global role

Simon Collins, the Chairman of KPMG UK, will not be continuing in the role after his five-year term ends at the close of this financial year. Rather than seek re-election, he will be putting his name forward for the role of leading KPMG’s Global Network.

Simon Collins joined KPMG in 1998, following more than seven years at NatWest Markets, in his most recent role as Managing Director and Global Head of Debt Structuring and Private Placements.

At KPMG he held a range of roles with increasing seniority. After serving as Global Head of Transactions and Restructuring for a while Collins in 2012 was appointed Chairman for the UK organisation of the professional services firm. Collins, who started his career as a Trainee at rival PwC in 1982, holds a BA in Economics from the University of Manchester.

His work for KPMG has been varied, aside from supporting some of the firm’s largest clients with financing needs, he has also chaired the KPMG Foundation and is a member of the KPMG global executive committee and board.

A spokesperson for the firm remarks on Collins’s leadership, “Simon has established himself as one of the most innovative leaders of the Big Four. Under his leadership KPMG was the first professional services firm to introduce an audit which went beyond regulatory requirements, as well as navigating a new world of audit tendering to regain its position as the number one auditor of listed companies in the UK.”

His leadership style, according to the spokesperson, has sought to remind business that they should act responsibly to society and behave in a way that actively benefits society. Additionally, Collins is a passionate supporter of the voluntary Living Wage and was also the first chairman of a Big Four firm to publish detailed diversity targets.

As for Collins’ replacement, a new chairman is expected to be appointed by the end of March 2017.