Ken Toombs named Chief Executive Officer of PA Consulting
PA Consulting has named Ken Toombs as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.
Following its securing of private equity investment from the Carlyle Group, British-origin PA Consulting has booked strong growth in recent years. In the five years since the global private equity firm took a 51% stake in the international management and technology consulting firm, PA Consulting managed to grow its revenues to over £500 million, up from below £360 million.
Having successfully overseen this period of growth, Chief Executive Officer Alan Middleton has stepped down from PA’s top job, following 13 years in the consultancy’s hot-set. Initially, Panos Kakoullis was announced as his successor in a year-long transition period, having previously led the global auditing wing of Deloitte, however PA has now announced a change of direction.
A spokesperson from PA commented on Kakoullis’ exit, “Panos Kakoullis has left PA Consulting by mutual consent. We would like to thank Panos for his contribution to the business and wish him well for his future endeavours.”
As the firm moves forward, consulting industry veteran Ken Toombs has assumed the position of CEO with immediate effect. Middleton will meanwhile continue as a Partner at PA, and will work alongside Toombs and the Board to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months.
Commenting on the move, Middleton stated, “In Ken we have a leader with great intellect and a well-balanced moral compass. He is a true strategist at heart and will be an excellent guardian of PA’s purpose, values, history and of our bright future."
Over his career, Toombs has held several leadership roles in the professional services sector including senior positions, including being a Partner at PwC, the North American CEO of Capgemini Consulting, and Global Head of Infosys Consulting, before joining PA in 2018. Tombs joined PA to lead its Americas business, helping to accelerate its growth in the world’s most lucrative consulting market.
John Alexander, PA Consulting’s Chairman, said, “PA has successfully grown under Alan’s leadership, and will do the same with Ken. Ken has successfully led the Americas since joining PA, developing and attracting a strong leadership team, growing talent at all levels and has substantially increased PA’s client base.”
Speaking on the news himself, Toombs commented, “I joined PA because of our purpose ‘Bringing Ingenuity to Life’ and because I want to help to build a positive human future. We live our purpose in everything we do and especially over the past six months when we have collaborated with our clients to deliver life-saving work. We’ve seen the very best of PA in these times."
“As CEO I plan to continue growing PA Consulting as the market leader and further expanding our end-to-end innovation capabilities. I want PA to become the employer of choice for talented consultants around the world."