KPMG has appointed David Williams to lead its Cardiff office as the business advisory firm looks to invest further in its Cardiff office and expand its presence in Wales.
David Williams, who lives in South East Wales and has worked for KPMG for 22 years across audit, advisory and most recently consulting, will take on the role as Office Senior Partner. In his new position, David plans to expand his team to work with Central and Local Government and the wider public sector in Wales, and to continue supporting the country’s emerging technology sector and SME community.
David takes on the role after more than 12 years in senior leadership positions, both globally and in the UK, across the transport sector and the firm’s Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare practice. His experience includes solving strategic and financial challenges for clients in the public sector and devolved government sectors and helping businesses to grow and expand in the private sector.
The appointment, which became effective from 1 June 2022, sees incumbent Office Senior Partner Simon Jones pass on the role after 15 years. During his tenure, Simon has overseen the growth of the office and its client portfolio, established a tax centre of excellence in Cardiff, and secured the office’s long-term future following a successful re-negotiation of KPMG’s lease in Assembly Square at Britannia Quay. Simon will continue to lead KPMG’s relationship with a broad portfolio of clients and will continue in his role as a Tax Partner providing tax compliance and advisory services to many businesses in Wales and beyond.
Meanwhile, the Cardiff office has also promoted Jeremy Thomas as Partner within KPMG’s private enterprise audit team. Jeremy works closely with private equity backed, family owned and manager-owned businesses across Wales. Having initially joined KPMG in 1999 and subsequently operating in London, Bristol and Prague, Jeremy returned to Cardiff and established himself as the firm’s audit lead in Wales.
Jeremy Thomas said: “It’s an honour to join the partner group and represent KPMG in the dynamic Welsh business market. I’m proud of how we support local businesses through their life-cycle and these further appointments and promotions show the firm is investing in Wales for the long term and will drive the significant growth that we expect in the coming years”.
David Williams, said: “There is real potential within the Welsh economy. We all know that it is a great place to live and work and many others are quickly appreciating that too. This is having a phenomenal impact on the burgeoning tech scene in the city and will support Welsh SMEs as they look to grow. We’re also seeing significant interest from international firms to invest in the country and use Wales as a platform for growth in the UK.
“My role is all about further developing our presence in Wales so we can support those ambitions, but also to help our clients through the challenges they are facing – whether that’s emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, responding to inflation or reducing emissions. Fundamental to that is attracting the best professional talent in the market, but also fostering our own and strengthening our links with schools, colleges and universities to take on the professionals of the future. We also have an incredible wealth of experience and expertise across our UK office network, so my focus will also be on linking local businesses and public sector organisations with best-in-class professionals.”
“Simon Jones has been a champion of Welsh business and has been absolutely critical to developing our offering in Cardiff. I’m thrilled to be taking on this role, but also in having Simon remain as part of the team here. Having been a partner for some 25 years he has enormous experience and an incredible network and, alongside the promotion of Jeremy Thomas, brings even more senior counsel to our clients.”
Simon Jones added: “It has been an absolute privilege to lead our Cardiff office for KPMG over the past 15 years and drive our support for organisations across Wales. Together, we’ve built a great team in the city and worked with many of the most prestigious and fastest growing organisations in Wales.
“Jeremy has been central to the leadership of Cardiff office for many years, so to see him become a partner is very satisfying. I know that he will excel in his new role and continue to improve our firm for clients and colleagues alike.
“David is the perfect candidate to take the office forward. He is incredibly well connected with the wider KPMG firm and will be pulling in that expertise to support our clients here in Wales. He’s passionate about further growing our footprint in Cardiff and the impact that we can all have as professionals in our local community. I look forward to supporting David as we continue to grow and invest in our offering here in Wales.
“David’s track record of helping our public sector clients with their most important issues – whether those are financial, customer, environmental or technology challenges – will be extremely valuable given the importance of the devolved government and the large public sector footprint in Wales.”
