Jeremy Newman could fit for RSM Tenon

The process to bring fresh blood in at board level for RSM Tenon continues.

Chairman Adrian Martin is to step down, having seen in a new CEO and CFO.

Michael Findlay, a non-executive and deputy chairman, is also set to leave.

RSM Tenon will then have former chairman Bob Morton as a non-exec, plus John Newman, alongside the two execs.

Obviously more board members will brought in. But who?

It’s unlikely that RSM Tenon’s lenders LloydsTSB will look to push someone on board.

The bank already has its firefighter Donald Muir involved in the firm’s restructuring process.

The big question is who will take on the chairman role?

An obvious candidate must surely be former BDO International chief Jeremy Newman. He has held a consultancy role at RSM Tenon in recent weeks, as it considers its options. What those options are is moot, but it is likely to include selling individual offices, or even chunks of its service lines. We know for sure that a 10% reduction in its workforce is ongoing.

Having met with Jeremy a few weeks back, he didn’t strike me as someone looking to spend his time tending the garden. But whether he has the appetite to take on another big job in a firm is another matter.

Then again, what is effectively a part-time role might fit with other commitments he’s looking to make.

We’ll have to wait and see. But he knows his onions, having led great change at BDO, and I think he’d make a good choice.