BDO targets federal government advisory sector with new Canberra office
Accounting and consulting firm BDO is getting set to launch an office in Canberra, with former Big Four public sector partners Paul McDougall and Ridhish Arora recruited to lead the new practice.
The move is being made on the back of firm’s trend-bucking growth of 14 percent to $540 million in revenues, with the BDO now looking to cut further into the Big Four’s shrinking slice of the federal consulting pie.
The firm expects its new practice in Canberra will add a further $40 million to $50 million to its bottom line within the next four years, building up to a headcount of possibly ten partners and more than100 staff over that time.
“We have offices in every capital city, and the Parliamentary triangle is a great location for us to expand and grow into Canberra,” BDO’s chief executive partner Tony Schiffmann said of the firm’s intended locale. “We’re putting down firm roots and not looking at some fly-in, fly-out operation. We’re in for the long haul, and we’re very excited about the prospects for BDO in Canberra.”
Leading the local charge will be two-decade PwC veteran and former Canberra trust & risk services lead partner Paul McDougall, who crosses after the past year at Scyne Advisory, while ex-Deloitte consulting partner Ridhish Arora joins to head up BDO’s federal government digital transformation offering after spending the past three and a half years as a founding technology partner at Sayers.
Together, the pair bring in the region of five decades worth of business analysis and advisory experience to their new roles. McDougall joined PwC from the department of human services in 2004, and also served as federal healthcare client lead during his time at the firm, while Arora spent seven and a half years at Deloitte prior to Sayers with earlier stints at Altis Consulting and PwC.
Canberra consulting
In announcing the launch, BDO’s independent chair David Fagan revealed that the firm’s existing public sector practice already contributed approximately one fifth of its annual revenues, with demand for “quality independent perspectives and specialist knowledge” from current clients and the wider Canberra market leading to the firm’s decision to set up shop in the nation’s capital.
“We have demonstrable capability in the work we do for the public sector, and we’re excited to bring that expertise and build our capability in Canberra,” Fagan stated, adding that the firm – Australia’s fifth-largest of its kind – would embed itself in the local community. “To build a lasting presence in Canberra, we'll be making significant investments in our people and premises.”
BDO becomes the latest in a series of big-name consultancies to expand into Canberra amid the Big Four turbulence, including recent entries by KordaMentha and global management firm Oliver Wyman. Earlier in the year, RSM also established a management consulting wing in the capital, while William Buck expanded into the ACT via a hook-up with local advisory Link Capital Partners.
