Big Five - Connolly takes charge at Deloittes

The first public act of Deloitte & Touche’s UK senior partner-elect John Connolly was to announce that his predecessor John Roques secured a 27.3% increase in national fee income to #563.3m in his final year.

‘If somebody offered me the opportunity to bank equivalent growth results for next year, then almost certainly, I would bank them today,’ said Connolly.

With clear signs of an economic downturn emerging, Connolly added he would rather have good results behind him than bad. ‘It means our partners, managers and staff are very confident and happy,’ he said.

Connolly officially takes charge in April, but is already acting as UK chief executive, working alongside Roques during the transition period.

In his new role, Connolly is planning to put in place organisational changes that will undermine his own autonomy as manager of the UK firm.

Connolly serves on the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu audit and advisory strategy committee that is devising the firm’s global strategy.

‘As part of that process, I am recommending that national autonomy be threatened,’ he said. ‘There comes a time when you have to give up country sovereignty.’

From 1 April, Deloittes will introduce a global structure and management team, in which leading country managers will be given expanded global roles covering different functions within the firm.

Connolly, who is planning to review the UK’s human resources, compensation and marketing strategies, has been earmarked to lead ‘a very substantial part of our global business, which will include corporate finance’.