KPMG has recently promoted a total of 42 employees to its esteemed ranks of equity partners, marking the firm’s first promotions in four years. This strategic move signals confidence in the anticipated growth of its professional services, particularly after navigating through a broad industry slowdown.

The addition of these new equity partners reflects KPMG’s commitment to enhancing its leadership team, which now consists of over 500 partners. This growth comes after the firm experienced a significant reduction in partnership numbers due to economic pressures, making the current promotion a noteworthy development.

While KPMG had not made internal promotions to its top ranks recently, it has brought in talent from outside the organization to further bolster its leadership structure. With approximately 18,000 employees in the UK, KPMG continues to provide auditing, consulting, and tax advisory services to some of the nation’s largest corporations.

Equity partners at KPMG, along with their counterparts in other Big Four firms—Deloitte, PwC, and EY—have the responsibility of voting on critical governance issues and benefit from a share of the firm’s profits, which averaged £746,000 per partner in the previous year.

Faced with declining revenues from client billings due to a decrease in major corporate deals, KPMG has been restructuring its partnership, reducing the total number in order to maintain profitability. The firm’s partnership numbers hit a 20-year low last year, with only 467 partners compared to PwC’s 1,057.

In a bid to adapt to the changing business landscape, KPMG has also elevated around 57 individuals to the status of salaried partners in recent weeks, who do not possess equity stakes in the firm. A spokesperson for KPMG UK stated that the firm remains dedicated to investing in its personnel to effectively support client growth.

KPMG’s decision to expand its partnership contrasts with industry trends. Recently, Marco Amitrano, the new head of PwC, announced the introduction of a new salaried role for partners—termed ‘managing director’—which is seen as a move towards limiting admissions into full equity partnership.

In the face of rising costs, the Big Four firms, including KPMG, have been implementing layoffs. KPMG is also focused on enhancing the quality of its auditing services, especially after facing scrutiny for its role in the collapse of Carillion, which incurred debts amounting to £7 billion.

Last week, KPMG announced it had resigned from its role as the auditor for London Luton Airport following the airport’s refusal to meet the proposed increase in fees. In the previous year, KPMG received £120,000 for auditing the airport’s financial statements.

The airport has since contracted Grant Thornton as its new auditor. Similarly, the cosmetics brand Lush terminated KPMG’s auditing services due to a fee dispute.

A spokesperson for KPMG remarked that the auditing sector is increasingly faced with various cost pressures, including heightened regulatory demands and evolving auditing standards. This necessitates ongoing investments in processes, personnel, and technology, which may lead to necessary increases in audit pricing to accommodate the greater complexity and resources required to comply with new regulations.

London Luton Airport indicated that its decision to transition to a new audit firm was reached by mutual agreement after a competitive review process.