KPMG Becomes the Foundation's First Big Four Partner
James Mercer, a partner at KPMG, gave our students three pieces of advice at Canary Wharf in September, and the first was to take a notepad everywhere.
"If I go to a client, I will bring my notepad with me, whether that's meeting an intern at the client or the CEO," he told them. "Clients want to know that you're listening to them and want to know that you are taking what they say seriously. A very easy way to demonstrate that is to take a notepad and write down what they're saying."
The second was to ask lots of questions, because employers are increasingly recruiting for curiosity rather than knowledge. "It's not about how much you know. It's about how curious you are." The third he called having a "no job too small" attitude.
Zainab Ozpalas, a third-year student at Bayes Business School, was in the room. "It's really helped me get a clearer picture of what I want to do in the future and feel a bit more confident in my future progression," she said.
The day was our first ever Programme Conference outside Scotland, hosted by KPMG at its London office. KPMG is now the ICAS Foundation's first Big Four partner, and London was one of three opportunities our students had to meet the firm this autumn.
Social mobility is something James works on alongside his day job. He is partner sponsor of KPMG's Social Mobility Network, which brings together 1,200 colleagues across the UK from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and people from those backgrounds are one of the firm's three main talent pipelines. "The firms are giving more support now to people from different backgrounds," he said, "and KPMG are leading on that as well."
In her first year, before she joined the Foundation, Zainab found it hard to feel confident about her career, "especially since I met a lot of students that had the network or the connections that they needed to succeed within the industry." Having a mentor changed that. "Having that mentor that gives me the advice, gives me the insight that I need, really does build up the confidence."
Much of the partnership was steered by Eryn Paterson CA, an Assistant Manager at KPMG. Eryn is also a Foundation alumna, an Alumni Ambassador, a mentor, one of our trustees and, next April, one of five people running the London Marathon for us.
“Over 10 years ago, I joined the Foundation as a mentee. If someone had told me then that I would go on to help form the first partnership between the Foundation and KPMG, I would never have believed it. Today, I'm incredibly proud that KPMG can support students through a variety of events, opportunities and experiences."
The first meeting was in Glasgow, at our Programme Conference on 9th September, where Rohit Hughes from KPMG's student recruitment team spoke to students about early careers in the Big Four and how recruitment works. Eryn was there too, and watched her own mentee, Kelly, give her first ever public talk.
"Giving students the opportunity to ask questions and hear directly about the recruitment process is invaluable," Eryn said, "helping them feel more informed and confident about taking their next steps."
The London day itself was a smaller one, with 22 people: 11 students, four mentors, three alumni and two trustees. It had the backing of Catherine Burnett CA, KPMG's UK Head of Audit and a Past President of ICAS. Alongside James, KPMG's Olivia Whitehead took students through internships and graduate opportunities at the firm, Foundation alumni talked about how they got into the profession, and David Cruickshank CA, ICAS President and ICAS Foundation, rounded the day off with his reflections. Everyone who gave feedback said they had met more people on the programme and left feeling more engaged with the Foundation.
Students also met KPMG online, at an insight event just for Foundation students. Twenty-seven students from 14 universities joined Rohit and Eryn, who hosted. Katie Donaldson, a KPMG graduate, talked about what graduate training at the firm is like, Rohit walked through how KPMG recruits graduates and interns, and then the KPMG team answered students' questions for 45 minutes.
It's early days for the partnership, and we're looking forward to seeing how we can build on such a strong start.
Interested in partnering with the Foundation? Hosting an event, offering an internship and mentoring a student are all ways in, and we'd love to hear from you.
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Programme Conference 2026: Glasgow and, for the first time, London →
"I felt like I belonged in the profession I'm working towards" →
