KPMG nabs PwC director Brian Bannister for global comms role

Brian Bannister will be leaving his job as UK director of comms after five years to become global head of comms for the professional services heavyweight.

He will start in December and is being replaced at PwC by current head of media relations Emma Thorogood.

Bannister said: ‘For all the large professional services organisations there’s a widespread lack of understanding of them, even within the business community.

‘We want to show people who we are and what value we add. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis there are also comms challenges to explaining the legitimacy of multi-disciplinary firms.’

Bannister’s move comes after KPMG – as well as the other ‘big four’ auditors – came under scrutiny by the EU and Competition Commission over dominance within the auditing market.

It also follows a recent shake-up of KPMG’s comms set-up, with a comms and marketing team of 250 created to handle the firm’s global reputation.

He has more than 20 years of experience as a senior corporate communications adviser, including 12 years in the professional services arena.
 
Rachel Campbell, KPMG global head of people, performance and culture commented:
'I'm delighted that Brian is joining our organization in this new global role. He joins a strong team and I look forward to working with him to continue to build KPMG's profile in the market.'

This article was first published on prweek.com