Tim Richards takes the helm of Deloitte in Western Australia

23 April 2023 Consultancy.com.au

Tim Richards has been appointed as the new office managing partner for Deloitte in Western Australia. Richards succeeds Michael McNulty, who has been in the role for the past ten years.

The Perth branch of professional services firm Deloitte has selected audit veteran Tim Richards as its new office managing partner.

Richards has been with Deloitte for close to two decades, and takes over from leadership stalwart Michael McNulty, who has been inthe role for the past ten years and guided the firm through significant growth during this period. McNulty described Richards as an outstanding leader who will lead with distinction.

Tim Richards takes the helm of Deloitte in Western Australia

Graduating with a bachelor of commerce from the University of Manchester in 1993, Richards immediately kicked off his career with the local branch of Arthur Andersen before transferring to Perth three years later to focus on clients in the mining sector. He remained with the firm post-collapse as it morphed into Ernst & Young in 2002, rising to the level of principal over the next two or so years.

With a continued focus on mining, Richards then joined Deloitte as a partner, before later serving as the firm’s national mining practice leader for two years from 2010. Since then he has held a number of other leadership roles, including as lead audit partner for Deloitte in Western Australia and more recently as national audit clients, industries & markets leader. He also serves as global client service lead for Woodside.

Richards will now have responsibility for the firm’s Western Australia practice, which is home to approximately 70 partners and 1,000 professionals in total – numbers which have grown substantially during McNulty’s decade-long tenure as Deloitte outpaced its rivals to become the largest advisory in the state. When McNulty joined the firm in 2002, those figures stood at 14 partners and 150 staff.

While the majority of his then colleagues crossed to EY, McNulty opted to join Deloitte’s partnership after over a decade at Arthur Consulting, serving as the firm’s local consulting practice lead prior to his ascension to office managing partner. In addition, McNulty has also sat on numerous boards, including presently Cancer Council WA and local indigenous organisations Waalitj and Martuku Watkamutiku.

A fair portion of the firm’s rapid growth has come via acquisitions and integrations overseen by McNulty during his time in charge, beginning with accountancy KD Johns & Co. in 2014 (which was also founded by former Andersen colleagues). More recently, the firm has picked up Perth-based Global IO, Oracle specialist Magia Solutions, and management consultancy The Terrace Initiative.

Richards’ appointment continues a period of transition at the national ‘markets’ leadership level for Deloitte. Paul Rehder was appointed national managing partner for Clients, Industries & Markets at the end of last year, with Victoria office managing partner Ian Trevorah recently taking over as national markets leader. Canberra chief Phillip Roberts has also vacated the role to take up a national Clients assignment.

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