Three senior hires for KPMG's turnaround team

The British wing of KPMG has announced a trio of senior appointments in its deal advisory practice. Brian Horn, Chris Coley and Paul Richards bolster the team, as KPMG prepares for heightened demand for corporate turnaround work.

Brian Horn has joined KPMG as a Partner, bringing more than 30 years of management and advisory experience to the role. A previous expert with restructuring specialist AlixPartners, he has worked with boards and private equity sponsors to develop and implement bespoke plans to preserve and restore value to businesses that were facing operational and financial challenges.

Chris Coley also arrives as a Partner, having built up over 16 years of advisory experience working for companies and their lenders. Most recently he was a Managing Director at professional services firm Kroll, where he focused on growing the firm’s Large Corporate and International offering in London. Prior to this, he worked at EY and FTI Consulting.

Paul Richards meanwhile joined the team as a Managing Director. A former Senior Director at Alvarez & Marsal, he has previously helped companies facing operational challenges, while before that he spent over 13 years at Rothschild & Co, both in the UK and the Middle East, specialising in helping businesses that were facing financial difficulty. 

Liz Claydon, Partner and Head of Deal Advisory at KPMG UK, noted, “I am thrilled to welcome Brian, Chris and Paul to the team at such a pivotal time, as we continue to drive forward our growth and investment strategy. These hires strengthen our Special Situations Group’s senior platform, and will be instrumental as we build out our offering to companies that may need specialist help.”

Economic downturn

While for the longest time, experts touted the UK as being set for a quick recovery post-lockdown, it has actually transpired that the economy was not nearly as healthy as believed. With decades-long wage stagnation remaining in place, massive inflation further chipped away at consumer spending power. A cost-of-living crisis – exacerbated further by the advent of war in Ukraine – saw demand collapse, and the economy entered negative growth in the last quarter of 2022.

This, coupled with HMRC’s debt recovery campaign mean that many companies are entering a state of acute financial distress at present. Demand for turnaround and corporate recovery consulting is subsequently spiking, as firms look to preserve jobs, and value for investors.

As KPMG prepares for the changing needs of clients, it is strengthening its London-based special situations and turnaround team. Part of the Big Four firm’s deal advisory practice, the team focuses on helping to preserve and restore value to organisations that may be facing a period of financial uncertainty. The team’s expansion follows on from its formation last year, which saw the appointment of Partner David Fletcher, and Managing Director Adam Broadbent.

Commenting on the team’s growth, David Fletcher, Partner and Head of Special Situations and Turnaround at KPMG UK, said, “These appointments will constitute a big step forward in delivering KPMG’s strategy to proactively support businesses through the whole economic cycle. By combining this specialist expertise with the depth and breadth of functional and sector capabilities already at KPMG, we are able help our clients to rise to whatever challenges they might face during times of economic uncertainty. There will be further announcements later this summer as we continue to build out our capabilities in this area.”