KPMG aims for European union
Hopes for KPMG to create a European single organisation still alive despite economic climate, says the firm's joint senior partner
Hopes for KPMG to create a European single organisation still alive despite economic climate, says the firm's joint senior partner
KPMG Europe’s joint senior
partner has said that the Big Four firm still hopes to bring all its European
subsidiaries into a single organisation despite the economic slump.
‘It’s tough but it’s not impossible, John Griffith-Jones told
Accountancy Age. ‘The dream is that the other European firms all join.’
KPMG Europe now comprises the UK, German, Swiss and Spanish firms, and the
Dutch and Belgian arms have also been brought on board. The firm is understood
to be in the middle of talks with
other members, currently at various stages.
There is no set time frame to bring the next target firm on board, but a KPMG
spokesman said ‘negotiations were ongoing’.
The Big Four firms, which are currently organised by a network of country
affiliates, have begun to integrate country subsidiaries within a single group
in the hope of landing bigger contracts and boosting revenues.
After KPMG began moves to join its UK business with overseas members last
year,
Ernst
& Young announced the formation of a new European structure, while
PricewaterhouseCoopers
unveiled a network of ‘clusters’.
Griffith-Jones was talking after KPMG Europe announced combined European
revenues of €3.6bn (£3.3bn) for the year to 30 September 2008, up 3%.
‘We’re in pretty bloody good shape,’ Griffith-Jones added. ‘We’re proud of
what we’ve achieved, but we’ve got a lot more to do.’