BINA MEHTA has made history as the first woman to head KPMG UK in the accounting firm’s 150-year existence.
Her appointment as the acting chair of UK board of KPMG also marked the first time a member of the ethnic minority and a person of Indian origin assuming the role at the Big Four firm.
While her elevation as has been sudden, following the resignation of former chairman and senior partner Bill Michael in February this year, Mehta is a veteran of 30 years at KPMG, with over 20 years of international M&A and restructuring experience in the UK, US and Canada.
Mehta hopes that the move would pave the way for greater diversity and inclusion across the accountancy industry. “Today, the firm has the most diverse board in its history with 60 percent being women and 30 percent being from an ethnic minority background,” she has said at the time of her appointment.
“I am just one of many women who have paved the way in KPMG’s 150-year history.
Each of them having strived to bolster the representation of woman in business, whilst encouraging the next generation to follow.”
When she joined KMPG in her early 20s, after qualifying as a chartered accountant, she was one of a handful of professional women in her team, and the only member from a minority ethnic background.
“I climbed the ranks alongside my peers but as I progressed further there were fewer role models I could personally identify with and the journey felt notably different. That prompted me to question why I had become the anomaly,” she has said, adding that it has made her “determined to champion the benefits diversity brings to the workplace and highlight the vital role mentors play.”
Before starting her career in advisory, Mehta worked in India to support the establishment of KPMG India, and she is still involved with her country of origin as a member of the India Business Forum chaired by the High Commission of India.
She is part of the UK Department for International Trade’s advisory groups on startegic trade and professional services trade, and leads KPMG’s relationship with the government department.
As chair of KPMG’s Emerging Giants Centre of Excellence in the UK, Mehta is a regular commentator on issues impacting founders and fast growth businesses. She mentors entrepreneurs and leads on a number of the firm’s partnerships in this space. She has also been very vocal about the need for diversity and inclusion in the investment industry.
“Encouraging the investment community to support our under‐represented entrepreneurs and business founders could provide a massive boost to the UK economy. There is a huge amount of talent to be unlocked from focusing on widening diversity across the investment community and beyond,” she recently told Eastern Eye.
She is also actively involved in nurtuting female business owners, and that incudes working as a member of the HM Treasury and BEIS co-sponsored Council for Investing in Female Entrepreneurs. She has recently contributed to a report by the council that offered best-practice guidelines to help drive diversity and returns across the investment sector.
“I have met some truly inspirational entrepreneurs, and have taken great pleasure in working with female founders. There is still a long way to go to ensure we get investment to these important and dynamic female-led businesses,” she adds.
Mehta’s latest shattering of a glass ceiling, making her a role model for many young immigrant women who are aspiring to reach the top in their fields, is sure to be of great help in this endeavour.
