KPMG partners vote in new non-exec director group 

KPMG has announced its new UK non-executive board members.  The group of six non executive partners is led by Richard Reid, appointed by recently elected chairman Simon Collins, with five members voted for by the partnership.  The non executives supplement the executive team of ten partners, appointed by the Chairman and signal the firm’s commitment to improving corporate governance and ensuring that a diverse leadership represents the partner group.

The six non execs are:

• Kru Desai – leads the public sector team within the Management Consulting practice.  She has an impressive track record, having built up 20 years experience advising both public and private organisations, and is particularly well known for her work in local and regional government and healthcare.  Kru also chaired the Minority Ethnic Group of the Department of Work and Pensions National Employment Panel for three years.

• Jonathan Hurst – is KPMG’s Northern Regional Chairman and works on some of KPMG’s largest audit clients, including Co-op Group, Odeon Cinemas and Eddie Stobart.  Jonathan has worked in four of KPMG’s largest UK offices and was seconded into the Ministry of Defence for two years.

• Richard Reid - is KPMG’s London Regional Chairman and is also Chairman of KPMG’s UK China Practice.  He sits on the Board of Accounting for Sustainability and is Chairman of The Safer London Foundation, the principal charity of the Metropolitan Police, and the East London Business Alliance.

• Melanie Richards – is a debt advisory partner within Corporate Finance, acting as lead adviser on a wide range of substantial fund raisings and restructurings.  She has over 30 years experience of the capital markets having worked at Nat West for 18 years.  Melanie leads the Senior Business Women’s Network at KPMG, is an active member of the 30% Club Steering Committee and sits on the boards of two charities: The Eve Appeal, which funds research into gynaecological cancers, and Orbis UK, which is devoted to blindness prevention and treatment.

• David Sayer – is KPMG’s Global Head of Banking and has had a varied career working at PwC, IBM and Lloyds Banking Group before joining the firm in 2005.  David advises some of the UK and the world’s largest banks on the tough challenges they face in the current environment. He has been involved in the restructuring of several European banks since 2008 and in building KPMG’s practice in high growth markets such as China and Latin America.

•  Ian Starkey –is an audit partner on some of KPMG’s largest global corporate clients and has worked for the firm in Birmingham, London and Switzerland.  He started out as a forensic specialist before heading the consumer markets practice and switching to audit, and now works with clients such as Diageo, Unilever and Roche.

Simon Collins, KPMG Chairman, commented: “The appointment of six partners, operating as non-executive directors, is part of a new corporate governance structure we have put into place.  All partners were invited to put themselves forward for the role, with the partnership voting on the shortlist.  The partners who went through the election process represent a diverse mix of the characters, backgrounds and skill sets our professionals have to offer.  The team will play an important role in the firm’s leadership, which will include challenging the business plan and monitoring performance.  This is a positive step forward in improving the corporate governance of our business and I believe our first non-executive group will provide real diversity of experience and contribution.”

-Ends-

Notes to editors

KPMG announced its new executive team under Simon Collins in May.  The team is made up as follows:

For further information please contact

Gavin Houlgate, Director of communications, KPMG: +44 20 7694 3902

gavin.houlgate@kpmg.co.uk             

Sorrelle Cooper, Senior PR manager, KPMG: +44 20 7694 8527                              

sorrelle.cooper@kpmg.co.uk           

KPMG Press Office: 020 7694 8773

About KPMG

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with over 11,000 partners and staff.  The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.7 billion in the year ended September 2011. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 150 countries and have 138,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity.  KPMG International provides no client services.