McGrathNicol promotes five to partner across offices nationally

Australian consultancy McGrathNicol has made almost two dozen senior promotions from manager ranks and up, including five new partners across its nation-wide offices.

Specialist Australian business advisory and restructuring consultancy McGrathNicol has added five new partners to its nationwide mix among a lengthy mid-year list of promotions. The leadership promotions were made across the firm’s footprint in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.

“Our people are our strength,” said McGrathNicol chairman Jason Preston, who elsewhere noted the most complex business environment the firm had seen in decades and consequent surge in restructuring and M&A demand, the latter despite the tougher economic environment.

“Even though there’s less capital available, we’re still seeing clients looking to broaden out their businesses and add scale. We’re also seeing increased demand for cybersecurity work”, said Preston.

In response to the latter activity, former journalist Tony Barnes was among those elevated to the firm’s top echelon, brought in from a recent cyber risk advisory director role at Deloitte in the United Kingdom.

Barnes has also been serving as managing partner of security firm Cyber Partners out of Brisbane for the best part of the past decade, having crossed to the consulting sector after an earlier broadcast and journalism career with agencies including the BBC, ITN and Granada.

Another new cyber and tech partner is Brendan Payne of McGrathNicol’s Perth office, who joined the firm in 2012 after five years in KPMG’s local forensics division and has since steadily worked his way up the McGrathNicol ranks.

Elsewhere, corporate advisory and due diligence consultant Nathan Baird becomes a partner in Sydney after six and a half years, alongside office colleague and restructuring and insolvency specialist Damien Pasfield, who joined in 2005.

The last of the new partnership quintet is Imran Pasha, a government and public sector consultant based in Canberra. Previous to joining McGrathNicol in mid-2021, Pasha spent close to a decade at the Big Four – two years as a director at Ernst & Young preceded by a more than seven-year stint at KPMG.

Earlier in his career, Pasha served as an auditor with BDO, and with the Australian National Audit Office and Department of Industry and Innovation.

In addition to the five new partners, McGrathNicol also recently promoted six new directors: Brad Allen in Canberra (Government Advisory, joined in 2016); Melbourne strategy & transactions pair Leah Auciello and Lucille Nicoll (respectively with the firm since 2013 and 2022, the latter via a decade with EY), and Sydney-based trio Doug Kay (restructuring), Johnathan Wong (deals), and Jeshna Sagun, the latter who previously spent three years at PwC.