Nexia recruits Paul Cottingham as chief strategy & growth officer in Sydney
The Sydney branch of accounting and consulting firm Nexia has recruited international Big Four operations veteran Paul Cottingham to a newly-created role as chief strategy & growth officer.
Cottingham joins Nexia in Sydney after having previously spent around a decade each at KPMG in New Zealand, where he was head of clients & markets, and PwC in New Zealand and the UK, the latter where he led business development for advisory.
Nexia, which hovers around the top ten globally but is stuck a bit further down the list in Australia, said the new role reflects the firm’s commitment to accelerating its next phase of growth in NSW, with Cottingham to be responsible for supporting its strategic direction.
“Paul’s experience, commercial mindset, and deep understanding of the professional services sector will be a tremendous asset to Nexia Sydney,” said Amber Matthews, who was appointed as chief at the end of last year. “Combined with his collaborative leadership style and strong focus on growth, he is well positioned to help drive the firm’s continued transformation and success.”
Matthews’ appointment as CEO was somewhat unusual in that she was recruited from outside the consulting sector, having previously served as Australia managing partner of law firm DLA Piper. Cottingham likewise crosses from from his most recent role as COO of Kiwi law firm Meredith Connell, albeit with a ton of consulting industry experience and degree in civil engineering.
Having graduated at the University of Birmingham, Cottingham soon turned his attention to the consulting industry, joining PwC in the UK at the turn of the century as a valuations & strategy specialist before working his way up to advisory business development leader and then transferring with the firm to Auckland in 2009, where he led overall business development for almost four years.
From there, he served for eighteen months as A/NZ managing director of global sales & operations consultancy Beacon Worldwide, before then joining the local branch of KPMG, where he spent nine years as head of clients & markets before in 2023 switching to Meredith Connell, which is described as the country’s largest public sector and commercial litigation law firm.
“After working in Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cambridge, London, and Auckland, the Sydney chapter has officially begun,” Cottingham said. “Joining Nexia in Sydney in its pursuit of growth is incredibly exciting, and I’m looking forward to working alongside the team, supporting our clients, and drawing on my experience to help drive growth and sustained success.”
