Accounting firm association PrimeGlobal has appointed ACCA executive director Stephen Heathcote as its new CEO, effective June 1, 2019.
Heathcote has been an executive director at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants since September 2009. Before that, he was director of planning and resources at the U.K. Financial Reporting Council and, prior to that, a senior manager at Big Four firm KPMG.
“I am immensely impressed by the unique global reach and diversity of PrimeGlobal’s independent member firms, and I am absolutely delighted to be joining the association as CEO,” Heathcote said in a statement Monday. “At a time when the profession faces many challenges, it has been refreshing to meet partners leading practices who are fully trusted by their clients and prepared to innovate to support them. PrimeGlobal shares the ambition of its members and draws on a vast range of expertise to ensure best standards and practices deliver success to members. I am very excited to lead such a successful association to the next stage of development which will further unlock the massive potential represented by our members.”
PrimeGlobal’s board has been searching for a new leader for over a year. Former CEO Kevin Meade departed in November 2017 after leading the association and its predecessor IGAF for over 15 years. A trio of independent accounting firm associations, IGAF Worldwide, Polaris International and Fidunion International, merged in 2011 and rebranded as PrimeGlobal in 2012 (see
“After conducting a worldwide search, I am happy to announce the World Board was able to reach an unanimous consensus that Stephen was the right person to lead PrimeGlobal,” said PrimeGlobal chairman Cornelius Kilbane, in a statement. “Our organization is one of the top international accounting associations in the world, and to have someone with Stephen’s leadership skills, experience with teams based in locations throughout the world and an understanding of both global and regional needs, means PrimeGlobal will continue to bring exceptional value to its members.”
