Chris started in professional life as a lawyer, joining Fried Frank in New York and Freshfields in London after studying at Oxford University and Harvard Law School. He quickly realised that his passion was for the professional services firm itself rather than the law, and joined McKinsey & Company. He spent six years with the firm carving out a rare niche in serving partnerships and professional services firms. During this time he moved from London to Sydney. Most recently, Chris was the Chief Strategy Officer for KPMG Australia, overseeing the move of the five year transformation program from design to execution to results, and leading the team responsible for the firm’s long-term strategy, scenario planning, strategic risk and M&A.
Over the last 15 years Chris has worked with many of the world's leading legal, accounting and consulting firms across the globe on their most critical issues, including:
- Long term strategy development for a Big Four accounting firm, law firms, and McKinsey's own strategy
- Strategy development and business model innovation for one of Australia's leading independent law firms
- Strategic option assessment, market scans, due diligence, negotiation support and ultimately integration support for one of the largest law firm mergers in recent years
- Cultural transformation at one of Australia's biggest professional services firms and a Big Four bank
- Asia market entry strategy for a major accounting firm
- HR and people strategy, including the talent management strategy for a Magic Circle law firm in London, and firms in Sweden and Australia
- Partner performance management and remuneration design for Golden Circle law firms and Big Four accounting firms
- Top team workshop facilitation, CEO strategic advice and executive coaching
This breadth of experience has given him a unique perspective on what works - and doesn’t work - in a professional services context. Chris has a passion for variety and problem solving, combined with a deep affiliation for the partnership model, and following the success of the KPMG transformation program started Amadeus Professional to enable him to make a similar impact in other professional services firms.
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