KPMG is letting people go in the UK after recently announcing the British unit’s merger with KPMG Switzerland.
On May 24, KPMG UK and KPMG Switzerland confirmed their planned combination, noting that the resulting entity will be the second biggest KPMG operations within the group’s global network.
At the time, the Big Four enterprise highlighted: “Both firms enter the merger from positions of strength as growing, profitable businesses in their respective home markets and have a long and strong history of working together for multinational clients.”
UK chief executive and senior partner Jon Holt described the move as a “historic moment” for the two KPMG partnerships.
“We will be stronger as one combined firm and together we will have the scale to significantly enhance our ability to deliver great outcomes for our clients both internationally and within our domestic markets,” Holt commented less than a month ago.
“Merging brings huge benefits for our clients, our people, and our partnership and means we can now grow faster, be more profitable and invest together to create new services in a sustainable way.”
Now, according to Financial Times sources, UK colleagues were notified on Thursday about a retrenchment set to impact around 200 employees in back-office and client-facing positions.
The plan, according to the report, is to reduce duplication by combining certain functions. KPMG UK, which is manned by over 17,000 people, already said goodbye to more than 200 staff at the end of 2023.
The company, reportedly facing decreased demand, was cited as saying: “Like the rest of our sector, we are still operating in challenging market conditions, which is why we have made the difficult decision to consult on proposals to reduce our cost base.”
According to an FT source, the consultation process on the proposed redundancies would be finalised by the beginning of October.
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