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PwC partners have chosen consultant Marco Amitrano to lead one of Britain’s largest professional services firms, after a three-way race that also included female candidates on the shortlist for the first time.
The firm announced on Thursday that Amitrano would become PwC’s next senior partner in the UK after winning a partner vote against audit director Hemione Hudson and tax director Laura Hinton.
Amitrano, an Italian-born PwC employee who currently serves as the firm’s head of clients and markets, will succeed outgoing boss Kevin Ellis on July 1.
“The partners have made the right decision for PwC’s next chapter,” said Ellis.
Amitrano told the Financial Times that his three priorities were to focus on technology, clients and PwC’s global network, adding: “We live in a changing world and a profession that needs to adapt very quickly .”
The succession comes at a turbulent time for the professional services sector. Like its rivals, PwC cut hundreds of jobs late last year and also delayed graduate promotions in recent months due to a slowdown in the consulting market.
British PwC, whose operations include the Middle East, generated sales of £5.8 billion last year. Around 35,000 people are employed in both regions.
The Middle East company, which will have sales of 1.6 billion in 2023.
Amitrano will take charge of PwC’s UK and Middle East business, while the firm also appoints new US and global bosses.
Last week the FT reported that PwC’s new US boss, Paul Griggs, plans to reverse a controversial restructuring of its tax practice and dismantle the business model introduced by the firm’s current senior partner.
Amitrano said he intended to maintain PwC’s current structure in the UK, but added he would “review a number of aspects of our business”, including how the firm’s artificial intelligence capabilities are organized and how it can “better align us with our customers.” .
He said he agreed “100 percent” with PwC’s “multidisciplinary model” of keeping its audit and consulting divisions under one roof after rival EY abandoned its attempt to spin off its consulting division last year.
While PwC has adopted AI tools across parts of its business, including its tax and business teams, Amitrano said the company is “still in the relative early days of generative AI.”
“It offers us and our people all sorts of opportunities, but inevitably people also feel threatened by it,” he added. “My role as senior partner will be to ensure that this assessment is carried out thoroughly and that we understand all the implications.”