PwC Australia’s partners elect Tom Seymour as CEO

5 March 

PwC Australia’s partners today elected Tom Seymour as their next CEO, succeeding Luke Sayers who has served as CEO for the past eight years.

Chairman of PwC’s Board of Partners, Peter van Dongen said, “We are delighted to announce Mr Seymour as the next CEO. Having led our Financial Advisory business and served as a member of the Executive Board for the past eight years, he is well placed to ensure a smooth transition of leadership.”

Tom has been the Managing Partner of the firm’s Financial Advisory business for the past four years, a business which brings together the firm’s tax, private clients, deals, legal and infrastructure and urban renewal businesses. Prior to this, Tom was the Managing Partner for Tax & Legal. Tom was admitted to the partnership in 2002. 

“PwC Australia is well on the way to becoming a $3 billion business and is proud to employ more than 8000 people. There is no doubt that the next few years will present many challenges and opportunities as business navigates a more complex environment. Our businesses themselves are all at different stages of maturity requiring bespoke leadership. But so too our clients are grappling with extremely complex and evolving challenges.  

“Tom’s vision for the future of our firm, and how we assist our client’s solve their most important problems has been supported by partners today and we look forward to working with him to deliver on this strategy in the months and years ahead,” Mr van Dongen said.

CEO Elect, Mr Seymour said, “I absolutely love this firm. We attract and develop amazing people, we work with the very best companies on their most complex and important issues, and we play a critical role in building the community’s trust in businesses and Government,” Mr Seymour said.

“The professional services industry has been through a period of significant growth as we have evolved our services to help clients anticipate and respond to the incredibly complex challenges they are facing. We need to understand the expectations of multiple stakeholders; our clients, people, regulators, Government and the broader community.

“I look forward to working with all our stakeholders to ensure our business is meeting and exceeding expectations and continuing to build trust. PwC’s business is built on providing quality advice and outcomes for our clients which is  essential to maintaining our premium brand in the market and goes directly to trust.

“I am most passionate about our people. We are so fortunate that the power of the PwC brand attracts an extremely diverse range of the very best and brightest people in the country. I am keenly aware that with this privilege comes huge responsibility to invest in these people and create a culture and environment where they can be the very best they can be.

“Luke has been an exceptional leader for our firm during the past eight years. His legacy is our strong values led culture and the courage he has shown leaning into some of the biggest issues facing our country and I look forward to building on his legacy,” Mr Seymour said.  

Mr van Dongen said, “Luke leaves a strong foundation for the next CEO to build on; our people are highly engaged (80%), we have positive client feedback (+64 NPS) and the firm has delivered strong profitable growth for a number of years ($2.6bn revenue as at 30 June 2019). He is  an extraordinary leader and the Board is grateful for his contribution to our firm, not only as CEO over the past eight years, but during his 30 year tenure with PwC. We wish him all the very best when he retires from the partnership in June.”

Mr Sayers said, “Leading this firm over the past eight years has been an extraordinary privilege, and I feel tremendously proud of all we have achieved over that time.  It has been profoundly rewarding to see our business overcome challenges and evolve with the times, and our outstanding people grow and thrive. Tom has demonstrated his remarkable leadership skills and passion for our firm over many years, and he has the trust and confidence of our partnership. I look forward to seeing what PwC achieves under his stewardship.” 

The firm will now enter a period of transition which will conclude by 30 June.