The Manchester office of business advisory firm KPMG has promoted Jessica Katsouris and Grant Ashbrook to partner as part of its latest round of promotions.
Jessica Katsouris has been appointed partner within KPMG’s audit practice after building a wealth of specialist expertise in financial services over the past 19 years. Jessica trained at KPMG in Bristol before joining Credit Suisse in Zurich, within its Group Consolidation team. In 2004, after three years at Credit Suisse, Jessica returned to KPMGand joined the Financial Services team in Manchester.
Grant Ashbrook joined KPMG in 2002 and has built more than 15 years’ experience as a transfer pricing specialist within the firm’s tax team. During his career with KPMG, which includes experience working in China, Grant has helped implement supply-chain and tax solutions for multinational companies across Europe, The USA and Asia.
Grant and Jessica are joined by nine new directors in the firm’s Manchester team. Helen McCourt, Elizabeth Meadowcroft and Nisha Sharma have all been promoted to director in KPMG’s Deal Advisory practice. Elsewhere, Ryan Ballantyne, Adrian Wills and Christopher Hardman are now tax directors, while Andrew Stone, Matthew Jackson and Andrew Trasler have become directors within the firm’s restructuring, advisory and management consulting practices respectively. Finally, Chris Martin has also re-joined KPMG as an audit director after spending five years at Grant Thornton.
Meanwhile, a total of 16 professionals have been promoted to assistant director, 33 have become managers and 59 have reached the position of assistant manager across the full spectrum of the firm’s specialist teams. KPMG also welcomed 75 new graduates, six school leavers and 35 apprentices to its St Peter’s Square office.
Nicola Quayle, Office Senior Partner at KPMG in Manchester, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Jessica and Grant to the KPMG partnership, both of whom are well-established figures at KPMG. Their vast experience and skill-sets demonstrate the specialist talent we have in Manchester to support the needs of the local business community. They represent a fantastic addition to the partner group in our thriving St Peter Square office, which has also been bolstered by an impressive intake of graduates, school leavers and apprentices.
We have also made a significant round of promotions throughout the office, which reflects the outstanding talent we already have based in the heart of the city. The region’s economy is in rude health and we have growth ambitions to match, which is why we are investing in the very best emerging and experienced professionals to create an unrivalled hub for business support right here in Manchester.”