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Deloitte’s head of tax is in line to become the Big Four firm’s next UK chief executive after being put forward as the only candidate in a partner vote triggered by a sweeping overhaul of the firm’s structure.
Darren Graves, who leads the tax and legal division for Deloitte’s north and south Europe region, was put forward this week as the sole candidate for partners to vote on, according to people familiar with the matter.
Deloitte’s partnership council, which is leading the selection process, put Graves’ name to the 800-person partnership for approval after taking “soundings” from across the firm on preferred successors for four months, a person familiar with the process said.
Graves prevailed over the head of the firm’s deals business Charindra Pathiwille, who was the other frontrunner for the role, and his appointment is almost certain to be approved by partners, according to people at the firm.
If approved, Graves would take up his post as senior partner and chief executive in June, one of the people said.
One partner called the vote “an anointment” as there was only one candidate on the ballot paper, but said Graves’ selection reflected the feedback given by partners. The person said the process compared favourably with the fallout that can happen when multiple candidates are put forward. Another person at the firm said the process was the same that had been followed during previous elections.
The succession was set in motion after longstanding UK senior partner Richard Houston was appointed as head of Deloitte’s European and Middle East businesses across 80 countries and 6,000 partners. The job has been created as the Big Four firm moves to join up its disparate units across the region.
Houston has led the UK firm since 2019 and was an architect of the overhaul, which the firm said will help it to roll out AI tools internationally and work more effectively for multinational companies that demand seamless service across borders.
If approved, Graves will lead only the UK operations as Houston’s responsibilities for the north and south Europe region, which includes countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands and Qatar, have been subsumed into his new role.
Graves has spent his entire career at Deloitte, rising through the ranks in its tax business.
The manifestos of the two lead candidates both “had the same fundamentals, growth and doing the right thing”, said one person with knowledge of the pitches, who added that Pathiwille had been more “willing to do things a little bit different, because that’s the way he is”.
Last year Deloitte’s UK business suffered its first decline in annual revenue in 15 years, reporting revenue of £5.68bn in September — down 1 per cent from the previous 12 months. The fall in revenues was largely due to a weaker performance at its consulting business, where revenues declined by 10 per cent to £1.68bn, which the firm said was because clients had “held back investments in large-scale change programmes”.
However, average profit per equity partner rose 4 per cent to £1.05mn as the firm responded to economic challenges by implementing cost-cutting measures. It was the fifth consecutive year that partners’ payouts exceeded £1mn on average.
Deloitte said: “Following a period of partner soundings, hustings and interviews, a candidate has been put to partners for a confirmatory vote. We will make an announcement once the process has concluded.”