Gemma Legg joins KPMG's Corporate Finance team in Reading

Former Grant Thornton and RSM employee Gemma Legg has joined KPMG’s Corporate Finance team. Legg becomes an Associate Director at the Big Four firm, and will be based out of its Reading office.

Corporate finance is the area of finance which deals with sources of funding and the capital structure of corporations. KPMG’s Corporate Finance practice advises clients on the actions that managers need to take to increase the value of their firm to the shareholders, and on the best tools and analysis with which to allocate financial resources.

With the shape of the British economy rapidly shifting thanks to the approach of Brexit, the consulting industry is experiencing heightened demand across multiple areas. In anticipation of a glut of work in the corporate finance arena thanks to this, and several other key trends, KPMG has been beefing up its offering in recent months. The latest addition to its team sees the recruitment of new Associate Director, Gemma Legg.

Highlighting the rapid growth of the practice recently, Legg joins KPMG’s Thames Valley and South Coast Corporate Finance team, as its fourth hire in six months. Legg, who is based in Reading, brings seven years of experience in corporate finance to the role, having first entered the industry in 2011, as a Law degree graduate of King’s College London.

Legg subsequently spent the next five years with consulting firm RSM’s Corporate Finance division, where she was latterly Manager. In 2017, she was named the winner of the South East Young Dealmaker of the Year at Insider's South East Dealmakers Awards, before joining Grant Thornton. Starting out as a Corporate Finance Manager, Legg was elevated to Associate Director, Lead Advisory, after just five months, before seeking a new challenge with Big Four firm KPMG.

Sami Fairris, corporate finance director at KPMG, said of the appointment, “Gemma joins us with an exceptional market reputation and is already proving to be a great asset to the team. She’s a key component of our ongoing success and we’re delighted to have her on-board… We’re excited to keep building on our success, continuing to recruit, and bringing our differentiated proposition to the market.”

Elsewhere, Big Four firm PwC also recently bolstered its Reading practice with the addition of four new partners alongside six director promotions. In the area, PwC works with a diverse range of clients from across telecommunications, energy, utilities and biotechnology industries, many of which are well-known and range from local, national and global brands.