Chris Hearld appointed to KPMG national executive team
KPMG has appointed a new member of its national leadership team. Chris Hearld, a Senior Partner from the Big Four firm’s Leeds office, will join the executive team as Head of Regions.
KPMG’s national executive structure is in a state of major change in the UK. Following months of mounting criticism, a new Audit Executive Committee has been created to change the governance of KPMG’s audit business. Amid this reshuffle, KPMG has also rearranging its national executive leadership team.
Chris Hearld, KPMG’s Leeds office Senior Partner and North region chair, is to join the leadership team as Head of Regions. His new role will take effect from June 1 2019 and will see him take responsibility for the performance of KPMG’s business across the Midlands, South and Scotland in addition to the North, where he will continue to be based. Hearld will have responsibility for more than 6,000 partners and employees across 21 offices, and thousands of clients and audit entities.
Hearld has led the professional services firm in Yorkshire since 2012 and across the North for the last four years, having arrived in the partnership in 2004. Since taking charge of the regional office, KPMG has moved into its Sovereign Square office in Leeds, while expanding its footprint to three Leeds city centre locations, including a managed services centre at Broadgate and a base at tech incubator, Nexus. The Big Four firm has also opened a Sheffield office and grown its headcount to more than 1,000 people.
Commenting on his appointment, Hearld said, “The regions of the UK are amongst the most exciting, diverse and dynamic business heartlands to be found anywhere. So leading the part of our business that advises the entrepreneurs and executives at their helms as they work towards fulfilling their ambitions is an exciting privilege. The thousands of talented KPMG professionals throughout our regional markets work extremely hard to bring value to their clients and I am looking forward to working alongside many of them in my new role.”
Hearld’s appointment will not be the last in the coming weeks. With his relocation to a new role, the process to appoint successors to his current Leeds and North roles has already commenced.
