KPMG has 50% women on board

KPMG has become the first of the Big Four firms to achieve gender parity on its UK board with the election of two more women members

They are Melissa Geiger, head of international tax and tax policy, and Linda Main, head of KPMG’s UK capital markets group. Both were elected by the partners and will join the board on 1st October.

Commenting on their election, KPMG UK chairman Bill Michael said, “I’m delighted that Melissa and Linda are joining our board at an important time for our profession and our firm. Both bring a huge amount of experience and sector knowledge to the board and I am confident they will represent the interests of the partnership at the highest level.

“I’m also pleased that the results of this election have created an equal gender split on our board.” 

Geiger comes from a financial services, corporates and national markets background. In recent years, she has spent time at Standard Chartered Bank and latterly at GlaxoSmithKline as global head of tax.

Main is an ICAEW chartered accountant and has more than 30 years of experience at KPMG. During that time, she has been a member of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Listing Authority Advisory Panel, and she currently sits on the advisory panel for the “Future 50”, a government-backed programme to support technology companies.

They will replace Christine Hewson whose tenure as one of the partnership’s elected board member has come to an end.

EY is the next closest to achieving parity on its UK & Ireland executive board, with seven men and six women board members, plus chairman and managing partner Steve Varley.

PwC’s board, which is headed by chairman and senior partner Kevin Ellis, boasts eight men and four women members, while Richard Houston, senior partner and chief executive at Deloitte, leads a board of nine men and five women.