One of BDO Stoy Hayward's most well-known and senior partners was beaten to the managing partner role by a relative unknown.

Accountancy Age understands that Gervase MacGregor, who is in charge of the ongoing investigation for the government over what went wrong at MG Rover, lost out in a two-way battle for the top role.

Simon Michaels, national head of the firm’s business restructuring team, will take over from Jeremy Newman in October to head the UK firm.

Phil Shohet, head of professional services consultancy Kato said the appointment was surprising: ‘I can’t think when a large firm has put a business recovery guy in at the top, they are normally pretty tough guys though. I would imagine it would create a massive change of culture,’ he said.

‘It’s an appointment out of the left-field’, said one source close to the firm, but added that Michaels was a good team player and would look to drive profits.

‘He’s cool, focused, profit oriented and good at being inclusive. He will get a good team around him, although I thought it might have been a bit early for this,’ said the source.

Further reading:

BDO names Michaels as new managing partner