EY could be on the brink of appointing the first woman to permanently head a Big Four firm in the UK. A shortlist of candidates to succeed Hywel Ball suggests the British member firm could be about to follow in the footsteps of the global entity – which appointed a woman as CEO for the first time in 2023.
In 2023, EY named Janet Truncale as its next chief executive officer. The move was a landmark appointment at the top table of the professional services industry – with none of the Big Four auditing and advisory firms having previously been headed by a woman beyond an interim capacity.
One year on, EY could be about to see the same thing in its UK practice. EY’s UK business is the second-largest firm in its international network, behind the US – and to date, it has never had a woman in its top role. But a shortlist on which two-thirds of the candidates are women suggests this could be about to change.
As reported by Sky News, EY’s equity partners were recently told on a webcast that the successor to outgoing boss Hywel Ball will be one of the following: UK Managing Partner for Financial Services Anna Anthony; Assurance Managing Partner Kath Barrow; and Managing Partner for Finance and Transformation Stuart Gregory.
Previous attempts
While the move would be a first if it actually happens, this is not the first time that a Big Four firm has floated the idea of having a woman take charge of its UK firm. Mary O’Connor served as KPMG’s acting UK boss in 2021 following the scandalous exit of Bill Michael – before being passed over for the permanent position in favour of Jon Holt. Earlier in 2024, meanwhile, PwCalso looked poised to appoint a woman to its top role with two women on another three-person shortlist. However, the firm eventually plumped for Marco Amitrano as its new UK and Middle East chief instead.
Despite the conservative stylings of its rivals, however, the EY selection process differs from PwC’s, so it would be wrong to assume a similar outcome this time on that basis just yet. While PwC allows all of its partners to vote in leadership elections, the succession process at EY sees an elected partner forum and the firm’s international bosses given final say.
Speaking to The Financial Times on the coming selection, EY commented, “We have exceptional leaders across our business and have a comprehensive process, run by our elected partner forum, to select the next EY UK & Ireland managing partner.”
Looking ahead, the process will now involve “soundings” with about 200 of EY’s 930 UK equity partners. These hustings will start this week and last for several weeks, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke to The Financial Times. The move will also see EY split the roles of managing partner and chair – running a separate process to appoint someone to fill the latter role, according to the source.
This comes as EY looks to stabilise its business, after a costly effort to divorce its audit and advisory arms collapsed. Amid that chaotic chapter, EY has also been contending with a market slowdown, which has seen it slash pay rises and bonuses, as well as announce hundreds of redundancies.