Sandie Boswell appointed CEO of accounting and consulting firm Bentleys
Accounting and consulting firm Bentleys has appointed Sandie Boswell as its new CEO from next month, with Boswell most recently serving as a business unit leader at Grant Thornton.
Based out of Sydney, Boswell has been in the top tax role at Grant Thornton since the beginning of 2023, and altogether spent seven years at the firm and its 2020 Glasshouse Advisory acquisition after an earlier decade and a half at PwC.
Boswell will replace Tasmania boss Robin Allardice as Bentley’s chief executive from the beginning of next month, with Allardice having served as acting CEO since the middle of the year following the departure of Tony Sacre to head up Allinial Global.
“With a 75-year heritage, Bentleys has built deep trust with its clients, particularly in the middle market; businesses that I believe form the backbone of our economy,” Boswell said. “I’m looking forward to working with the national management board and our member firms in Australia and New Zealand to align around a shared vision for growth, innovation and collaboration.”
An economics graduate of the University of Sydney, Boswell brings more than two and a half decades worth of professional tax experience, with a specific focus on R&D incentives and government grants centred on innovation. During her time at PwC, Boswell led the Big Four firm’s specialist tax team in Sydney, and was also a member of its Asia Pacific governance board.
She joined R&D advisory specialist Glasshouse as national innovation & incentives leader upon departing PwC’s partnership in late 2018, before the business was snapped up by Grant Thornton eighteen months later. Boswell then took over as tax leader in an executive shuffle at the beginning of 2023, having since led a team of more than 200 professionals across Australia.
“Sandie stood out to us for her values-led leadership style, clarity of vision and genuine connection with people, and she will help us continue to bring together local excellence and national collaboration,” Bentleys stated. “Her track record in driving AI adoption, business transformation, and strategic growth will be instrumental as we position ourselves at the forefront of innovation.”
Leadership hand-overs
It’s been a huge year for highest-level leadership hand-overs in Australia’s mid-tier accounting and consulting sector. In addition to Joanne Gorton taking over at Deloitte, the three largest international mid-tiers, BDO (David Garvey), RSM (Robert Miano) and Grant Thornton (Said Jahani) all have new chiefs, while William Buck also appointed Greg Travers as its new A/NZ chair.
