Phil Sands takes over as BellchambersBarrett’s inaugural managing partner
Phil Sands has taken up a new role leading a team of more than 100 professionals as the inaugural managing partner of BellchambersBarrett.
Having joined the Canberra-based advisory in late 2024, Sands steps into the newly-created role of managing partner to provide a centralised point of leadership as BellchambersBarrett continues to grow, with the firm having doubled its partnership numbers to over a dozen in the past four or so years.
Most of the firm’s recent recruits – like Sands, who was a partner at KPMG prior to crossing – have brought a background from the Big Four, including last year’s partnership additions of Kate Ahern and Tim Bennett, a former partner and director at Deloitte.
In addition to his two decades at KPMG across two stints, including time as the chief operating officer for the firm’s national governance, risk & compliance division, Sands was also as an assurance director at Ernst & Young, and led the external audits of a number of high-profile ACT institutions while serving as an executive director at the Australian National Audit Office.
In his new role, Sands now has responsibility for delivering BellchambersBarrett’s growth strategy and providing day-to-day operational leadership, while also continuing to play an active role in client delivery. According to co-founder Shane Bellchambers, Sands brings the requisite experience and temperament, and was the unanimous choice among the partnership for the new role.
“As our partnership group has expanded, so too has the complexity of running the business, and with our plans for continued expansion we recognised the need for clear, centralised leadership,” Bellchambers said. “This ensures we have someone accountable for executing our strategic priorities, while allowing other partners to focus on delivering exceptional outcomes for clients.”
The firm added that Sands’ appointment as managing partner also forms part of a measured succession plan with Bellchambers presently transitioning away from the firm to undertake independent work. His fellow co-founder James Barrett retired last year, with the pair, both three decade-plus industry veterans, having established the firm in 2014 after working together at PwC.
“BellchambersBarrett has an exceptional culture built on supporting our people and delivering outstanding outcomes for our clients, and I’m proud to be leading such a talented and dedicated team,” Sands said, adding; “We’ll keep broadening our offerings while ensuring our team continues to deliver the high levels of service and quality outcomes our firm is known for.”
