Ken Toombs succeeds Alan Middleton as CEO of PA Consulting

​PA Consulting has named Ken Toombs as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Deloitte expert Panos Kakoullis had previously been slated to take over from out-going Alan Middleton, however PA has instead opted to install 30-year consulting industry veteran Toombs in the role, after he successfully served as Head of Americas at PA for close to two years.

Following its securing of private equity investment from the Carlyle Group, British-origin PA Consulting has booked strong growth in recent years. In the five years since the global private equity firm took a 51% stake in the global management and technology consulting firm, With the private equity investment, PA Consulting managed to turn around a period of dropping fees following a peak in 2008, and has since built up enough momentum that earlier in 2020 the firm felt confident enough to target a revenue of £1 billion by 2024.

Having successfully overseen this decade-long turnaround, Chief Executive Officer Alan Middleton has stepped down from PA’s top job, following 13 years in the consultancy’s hot-set. Initially, Panos Kakoullis was announced as his successor in a year-long transition period, having previously led the global auditing wing of Deloitte, however PA has now announced a change of direction. 

A spokesperson from PA commented on Kakoullis’ exit, “Panos Kakoullis has left PA Consulting by mutual consent. We would like to thank Panos for his contribution to the business and wish him well for his future endeavours.”

As the firm moves forward, consulting industry veteran Ken Toombs has instead assumed the position of CEO with immediate effect. Middleton will meanwhile continue as a Partner at PA, and will work alongside Toombs and the Board to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months.

Commenting on the move, Middleton stated, “In Ken we have a leader with great intellect and a well-balanced moral compass. He is a true strategist at heart and will be an excellent guardian of PA’s purpose, values, history and of our bright future."

John Alexander, PA Consulting’s Chairman, meanwhile added, “PA has successfully grown under Alan’s leadership, and will do the same with Ken. Ken has successfully led the Americas since joining PA, developing and attracting a strong leadership team, growing talent at all levels and has substantially increased PA’s client base.”

Over his 21-year career, Toombs has held several leadership roles in the professional services sector including senior positions, including being a Partner at PwC, the North American CEO of Capgemini Consulting, and Global Head of Infosys Consulting, before joining PA in 2018. Tombs initially joined PA to lead its Americas business, helping to accelerate its growth in the world’s most lucrative consulting market.

Speaking on the news himself, Toombs said, “I joined PA because of our purpose ‘Bringing Ingenuity to Life’ and because I want to help to build a positive human future. We live our purpose in everything we do and especially over the past six months when we have collaborated with our clients to deliver life-saving work. We’ve seen the very best of PA in these times. As CEO I plan to continue growing PA as the market leader and further expanding our end-to-end innovation capabilities. I want PA to become the employer of choice for talented consultants around the world."