Adrian Griffiths succeeds Liz Claydon as KPMG's life sciences lead

KPMG has appointed Adrian Griffiths to head up the firm’s UK life sciences practice. Having joined the firm 10 years ago, Griffiths succeeds Liz Claydon, who has moved to head up KPMG’s deal advisory team.

The deal advisory wing of KPMG was shunted into a media storm earlier in the Summer, as the Head of the sector stepped down to take a leave of absence following “bullying” allegations. Sanjay Thakkar said he was resigning “in the wider interest of the firm”, following complaints regarding the way he spoke to colleagues, something which seemingly caused two Partners within the service line to quit the firm in protest. As KPMG looks to move beyond the furore and stabilise its deal advisory practice ahead of a busy Autumn, the firm has installed Liz Claydon as its new Head.

Claydon has spent her entire career with the Big Four audit and advisory company, having first joined as an Audit Trainee in 1991. She spent a year as Senior Manager on secondment to Diageo before taking a seven-year hiatus, and returned to action with the firm in 2009 as its UK Head of consumer markets transaction services and restructuring offering. By 2012, she was an Advisory Partner, before taking a year as Head of life sciences in the UK. She will now lead the UK deal advisory business, working with professionals across all aspects of deals, including M&A, valuations, restructuring, transaction, integration and separation.

Commenting via her LinkedIn profile, Claydon said, “As a KPMG Partner over the past 12 years, I am passionate about supporting my clients achieve their growth aspirations and providing independent challenge along the way.”

Claydon’s return to deal advisory has in turn freed up her former role as life sciences lead. KPMG has confirmed that vacancy will be filled by Adrian Griffiths, who takes on the role having spent the last decade with the firm. Since joining KPMG in 2009, Griffiths has played a key role in leading the firm’s relationship with major pharmaceutical clients – and offers 20 years’ business transformation experience across a broad range of sectors.

Prior to his time with KPMG, Griffiths spent nine years with Accenture, where he was latterly a Senior Manager in finance and performance management. Earlier in his career, he also worked for NatWest and BAE Systems in financial management roles. He will now lead the KPMG life sciences team as it works to help clients operate in a highly-regulated environment with pricing and funding pressures, policy changes, disruptive technologies and an increased focus on data security.

Remarking on his promotion, Griffiths said, “I’m proud to be leading such a substantial sector for the firm, which is continuing to grow year-on-year. I look forward to continuing to evolve our footprint across the industry and continuing to work with such a fantastic and talented community.”