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The mid-tier firm has announced eight new partner appointments for the new year, and is on track to make a record number of partner hires this financial year.
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BDO secures string of big four partners
03 February 2021
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Six of the new partners have come from the big four, including four from Deloitte, one from PwC and one from KPMG.
The other two appointments are internal partner promotions within BDO.
The new BDO hires include Grant Cameron and Sam Venn, both former partners at Deloitte, who will now service clients in the automotive industry in both Sydney and Melbourne, respectively.
Salim Biskri has also joined BDO as a partner in its audit and assurance division in Melbourne. He was previously a partner at Deloitte.
Joining Mr Biskri as a fellow audit partner is Stephen May, who joins BDO from KPMG where he was a senior audit partner. He will be based in the firm’s Sydney office.
William Campbell joins BDO as a tax partner in its Perth office. He joins from Deloitte where he was a corporate tax partner, and he was also previously a tax partner at PwC.
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Ross Widdows has also commenced as a partner in BDO’s risk advisory division in Sydney where he will specialise in cyber security. Mr Widdows joins the firm from PwC where he was a director.
Rounding off the latest round of partner appointments are Jodie Knowlton and Craig Mitchell, who are both internal BDO promotions in its business services division. Both Ms Knowlton and Mr Mitchell will be based out of Brisbane.
BDO chief executive partner Tony Schiffmann said the firm’s focus on its people and culture had paid off, with the firm seeing a fivefold increase in the number of partners from other firms discussing employment opportunities at the mid-tier.
“With the focus on digital over the last year or two, the emphasis on people seems to have been lost somewhat across our profession. We are still very much an industry built around our people,” Mr Schiffmann said.
“The way our people responded during COVID was simply outstanding. This reinforced the quality of the BDO team. Our view is that the ability of firms to attract and retain the right people will be a key success factor for all firms in a post-COVID world.
“2020 challenged many of us to reassess our priorities and it is no secret that our distinctive, people-centric firm culture is well regarded in the industry… that is not going unnoticed; our staff retention rates are at record highs while the number of people approaching us has increased significantly.”
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