PKF expands in Australia through both new and larger offices
Recently holding its place among Australia’s top ten accounting-origin professional services firms, PKF continues to expand its reach via a new outlet in regional New South Wales and bigger Brisbane office.
Accounting and consulting network PKF has expanded its office footprint on the east coast, both in terms of new outlets and space. The firm’s Sydney and Newcastle branch has added a former Rose & Partners location in the Upper Hunter region, while their counterparts in Brisbane have relocated to larger premises at Central Plaza Two on Eagle Street.
The partnership has also recently convened in Adelaide for its Covid-delayed biennial conference.
Based northeast of Newcastle in Scone, Rose & Partners has been operating in its most recent guise since the turn of the century, with co-founders and now PKF partners John Hallett and Paul Heaton having joined the accountancy during its earlier Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) phase in the 80s. The business’s latest rebranding extends PKF’s national footprint to 15 offices, with the firm having also recently added an outlet in nearby Port Stephens.
“This strategic move signifies a powerful partnership with the renowned PKF brand, enhancing the firm’s ability to serve the local community while leveraging the extensive resources of an international network,” the firm stated, with Heaton adding; “We genuinely believe that the Upper Hunter region deserves an accounting firm that offers all the benefits of the PKF network while remaining deeply committed to our local community.”
Meanwhile, following a recent spate of relocations among its accounting and consulting contemporaries – including KPMG in Brisbane – PKF is also moving to a new office in the city, albeit one just 250 metres from its current Gold Tower locale. From next week, the confirmed top ten firm will occupy a larger, more modern space on Level 2 of the Central Plaza Two tower at 66 Eagle Street, becoming building mates with fellow mid-tier network HLB Mann Judd.
Global and regional summits
The moves come as PKF’s A/NZ partnership network wraps up its biennial conference hosted by newly-installed managing partner Antoinette Tatarelli in Adelaide – the site of Deloitte’s recent leadership gathering – which follows the firm’s Asia Pacific summit held on the Gold Coast earlier this year and its recent global gathering in Portugal, with Australia CEO Peter Cannan and Sydney & Newcastle managing partner Bob Bell both in attendance.
With a Welcome to Country from ‘Cliffy’ Wilson of Kuma Kaaru Cultural Services, guests during the event included state treasurer Stephen Mullighan, who was a one-time associate director at the local branch of Deloitte, and AFL legend Kevin Sheedy, a ‘lateral, creative thinker’ who currently sits on the Essendon Football Club board alongside KPMG people & inclusion national managing partner Dorothy Hisgrove.
