One of Manchester's most well-known dealmakers has revealed why he drafted his resignation letter from KPMG in the early hours of Christmas Day.
Jonathan Boyers had worked at the professional services giant since October 1988 and rose to become a partner and its vice chairman and executive chairman of corporate finance.
In a LinkedIn post published this morning, Mr Boyers said it was "time to start a new challenge".
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He said: "At 6am on Christmas Day, 2022, I sat down at my laptop and drafted my resignation letter from KPMG. After 34 years with the same firm I had decided that it was time to start a new challenge. I eventually resigned last week.
"Gardening leave happened sooner than I expected so I’m writing this to thank all the amazing KPMG colleagues and clients that I’ve had the honour to work alongside and on behalf of.
"I’ve seen people grow from nervous new starters into confident managers and senior partners. I’ve input into numerous peoples careers and they in mine! There are too many names to mention but I’d like to single out the corporate finance partners (and the whole team) who I’ve worked with to grow the UK CF business over the last five years. They have been like a family to me and I’m lucky enough to count many of them as close personal friends. You know who you are but thank you.
"Last year I announced that I was stepping down from my role leading KPMG’s UK corporate finance practice. I handed over the helm on 1 October after five years leading that business.
"Together as a team we grew the turnover of the UK corporate finance three fold over five years and grew profitability by an order of magnitude!
"The business growth has been grounded on values of integrity and collaborative behaviour and a strong origination culture. When I handed over it had the largest forward order book it’s ever had.
"The suddenness of the last few days meant I also haven’t had a chance to speak to clients and contacts in the market but we will be able to pick up again in due course. Thank you to them.
"I’ve also not had chance to say farewell and good luck to my friends at KPMG Acceleris.
"Reflecting on my career at KPMG, I was in my early 20s when I first led the corporate finance team in Preston and I’ve been helping entrepreneurs, families and other stakeholders build and realise value for their businesses ever since.
"I was flattered that KPMG made me a vice chair of the firm in April but that role was likely to see me move away over time from the corporate finance market where I’ve spent all my career.
"All I’ve really ever done is advise on corporate finance deals and lead corporate finance teams and I’ve never lost the passion for deal-doing that I had on day one. So I’ve decided I want to carry on being a corporate finance advisor.
"I believe the next 10 years will see a reshaping of the corporate finance mid-market and I plan to play a pivotal role in that as it happens.
"There will be plenty of time to share details of what I’m doing next but for now I’d just like to once again thank my KPMG colleagues (past and present) and clients for their support and friendship over the years.
"Suffice to say I will still be vigorously active as a Leader in the UK Corporate Finance Advisory mid-market for many years to come!
"Watch this space for details of my next role but until then I’d better find out how to use the lawnmower as my gardening leave has begun!"
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