On the money with Gavin Hinks

On the money with Gavin Hinks

Take on the leader's megaphone at BDO

Simon
Michaels
, who is to take over as managing partner of BDO Stoy Hayward, will
have big shoes to fill. Or, rather, I should say he’ll have a rather large
megaphone to take over.

The current incumbent,
Jeremy
Newman
, is nothing if not vocal about the issues that keep him awake at
night or monopolises his lunchtime conversation ­ the Big Four audit debate.

Over the past two years Newman has maintained pressure on regulators over
audit choice, complaining of prejudice among big companies for the Big Four when
the mid-tier are more than capable of doing their audits. He even used a very
public blog to push his argument and took a swipe at the regulator when its
measures didn’t live up to his expectations.

I also seem to remember Newman being one of the first accountants to appear
on TV during the Enron crisis to talk about the employment opportunities of
staff at collapsed firm Andersen.

But Newman has not been a one trick pony. He has invested heavily in
marketing (frequently quoting the firm’s victory in the Accountancy Age Global
Firm of the Year award) and recruited new staff like they were going out of
fashion. He also bagged the firm some new premises.

So what will Michaels have left to do? Well, if he has the stomach for it, he
has to take the fight for the audit of large companies to the Big Four. His role
might be that of the managing partner who starts to build the critical mass in
the firm so it really does take high profile work away from the four largest
firms.

Or, he could say bugger it, we’re quite happy servicing the needs of large
owner-managed businesses and the risks associated with the publicly-quoted
sector in a credit crunch and economic downturn are much too high. Either way
there are interesting times ahead.

Gavin Hinks is editor of Accountancy Age

MacGregor
loses out on top role at BDO

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource