Deloitte appoints its first female head of audit

For the first time in its 179-year history, Deloitte has appointed a woman to run its audit and assurance business.
The Big Four firm told its staff on Thursday that, from January 1, Allee Bonnard will take over from Paul Stephenson, who has been Deloitte’s managing partner for audit and assurance for the past four years.
Deloitte can trace its roots back to an accountancy firm set up by William Welch Deloitte in London in 1845. Bonnard will be the first woman to be made the group’s top auditor in the UK.
“I am hugely proud to be the first female leader of Deloitte’s UK audit and assurance business,” Bonnard, 47, said. “Whilst we have made significant strides on gender equality, we know there’s still more to do to ensure all of our diverse talent are given the opportunity to thrive.”
In common with its rivals, Deloitte has been trying to get more women into its most senior positions. While women make up about half of the Big Four’s overall workforce, they account for less than a third of partners, although that proportion is trending upwards.
Five years ago, only 9 per cent of the FTSE 100 accounts Deloitte audited were signed off by a woman. Next year, it expects female partners to lead the audit work of half its blue-chip clients.
Earlier this year, EY became the first of the Big Four firms to appoint a woman to run its day-to-day operations in the UK when it made Anna Anthony managing partner in the UK and Ireland.
Bonnard is a Deloitte “lifer” having joined the firm’s New York office straight after graduating from the University of Florida. In 2005, she was seconded to London for what was intended to be only two years but she has never gone back. She currently leads Deloitte’s financial services audit practice in the UK.
Stephenson, 55, has been asked to oversee Deloitte’s audit business across Europe. Richard Houston, chief executive of both Deloitte UK and Deloitte North and South Europe, said that the UK audit division had “grown from strength to strength” during Stephenson’s four-year tenure.
He added that Bonnard has “a strong track record as both a leader and an audit professional at the firm. I am confident that she will be a fantastic addition to our UK executive team.”