EY has drawn up a female-dominated shortlist of candidates to succeed Hywel Ball as the firm’s UK managing partner, laying the groundwork for a contest that could produce the first woman to become the permanent head of a Big Four accountancy in Britain.
EY’s equity partners were told on a webcast on Tuesday that Anna Anthony, UK managing partner for financial services; Stuart Gregory, managing partner for finance and transformation; and Kath Barrow, assurance managing partner, had been shortlisted for the role, according to a person briefed on the matter.
It comes after Ball, who has led the firm since 2020, announced in June that he would step down as EY’s UK managing partner and chair.
Unlike its rival PwC, which allows all of its partners to vote in leadership elections, the succession process at EY is overseen by an elected partner forum and the firm’s international bosses.
The highly political process will involve “soundings” with about 200 of EY’s 930 UK equity partners, which will start this week and last for several weeks, said the person briefed on the matter.
EY is also splitting the roles of managing partner and chair and will run a separate process to appoint someone to fill the latter role, the person added.
In the past year, EY’s leaders have attempted to stabilise the business after the collapse of Project Everest, a radical plan to split its accounting and consulting arms globally. The firm has also had to contend with a market slowdown, which forced it to axe hundreds of jobs and reduce pay rises and bonuses for staff.
The three-person shortlist, which was first reported by Sky News, means EY could become the first Big Four firm in the UK to appoint a female boss on a permanent basis. Mary O’Connor served as KPMG’s acting UK boss in 2021.
EY appointed Janet Truncale as its global leader at the end of last year, but its UK business — the second-largest firm in its international network — has never had a female chief.
EY said: “We have exceptional leaders across our business and have a comprehensive process, run by our elected partner forum, to select the next EY UK & Ireland managing partner.”
