KPMG adds consulting to its family business offering with Glasgow appointment

KPMG has expanded its family business practice in Scotland with the appointment of Ken McCracken to develop and lead the firm’s consulting offering to the sector.

Mr McCracken will be the global firm’s Glasgow-based head of family business consulting.

KPMG invests in its family business practice with the appointment of Ken McCracken to develop and lead the firm’s consulting offering to the sector.

McCracken is a high profile figure within the family business market, bringing to KPMG decades of experience in, and passion for, family enterprises with a particular focus on governance and transitions.

He is a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute (FFI) and a past recipient of its Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Achievement. Last year he received the Family Business Adviser of the Year Award from the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP).

Commenting on his new role, Ken McCracken, head of family business consulting at KPMG, said:“As well as the issues that every business has to deal with, a family in business together faces a set of additional challenges because the reality is that the needs of the family and the business can never be completely separated.

“From working with families in different parts of the world and from different cultures, I have learned how they manage the often competing demands of family and business life. I want to share this knowledge and experience with families who have reached a stage when these challenges feel too complex or overwhelming. And I am here to help the increasing number of enterprising families who want to know how to organise their family and business interests to the highest possible standard.

“I’m excited about the support that will be available to family businesses through the combination of my international knowledge and experience as a family business consultant and the extensive resources of KPMG.”

Gary Deans leads KPMG’s family business practice and adds: “Attracting a figure of Ken’s renown in the family business field is a coup for KPMG as we invest in talent and growth.

“Generating, preserving and diversifying family wealth through business interests requires careful and professional management, often involving the establishment and maintenance of good family and business governance structures.

“Ken is an authority in this area and teaming his knowledge and empathy with KPMG’s technical and commercial know-how gives us a powerful holistic family business consulting offer.”

The appointment of Mr McCracken follows KPMG’s recruitment in October of Catherine Grum to lead its family office service, as the firm augments the services it tailors to family businesses.