Chairman of North role for KPMG senior partner
Nov 4 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal
KPMG has appointed the senior partner at its Manchester office as chairman of KPMG’s Northern offices.
Jonathan Hurst, 50, has been an audit partner at KPMG in the North West for 14 years, leading the firm’s relationships with a wide variety of the region’s businesses, including some of its highest-profile organisations such as the Co-operative Group, JD Sports, Pets at Home and Booker.
His new role will see Mr Hurst preside over KPMG’s five offices across the North of England and work with the office senior partners in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Newcastle, which is led by Mick Thompson.
The offices employ a total of more than 1,600 people, including 59 partners, making it the largest region for KPMG outside of London.
Mr Hurst said: “It is an absolute honour to be given the opportunity of leading one of KPMG’s largest business units in the UK.
“The team of people that we have across the region is second to none, be it in terms of their skills, expertise or professionalism.
“Couple our dynamism and hunger with the quality of both the business and public sector communities we are fortunate enough to work with in this region, and I know that exciting times lie ahead for KPMG in the North.”
Mr Hurst succeeds Malcolm Edge, who has been chairman for KPMG in the North for over five years.
Mr Edge will continue in his high-profile national role within KPMG, as head of the UK markets, in addition to sitting on the board of KPMG Europe.
Mr Hurst added: “I am particularly delighted to be leading KPMG in the North at a time when we are truly in the ascendancy in the marketplace.
“Under Malcolm Edge’s leadership, we have grown to be the number one professional services firm in the region by market share, something which stands us in great stead as we move into 2010.”
Mr Hurst’s childhood was spent in Bramhall, Cheshire, and he is now raising his own family there. However, he began his career in Bristol.
He joined KPMG in Bristol after graduating there in 1981, then transferred to London where he focused on transactional projects and undertook a secondment with the Ministry of Defence. After a spell in industry – as finance director in his family’s business – Mr Hurst returned to KPMG’s Manchester office, working closely with colleagues in the firm’s Liverpool and Preston offices.
