Deloitte names major corporate deal player as new regional head

Martin Jenkins, 42, will replace Geoff Taylor, 56, who has held the post of senior partner since May 2008.

In his only interview yesterday, Mr Jenkins described the appointment as "a tremendous privilege".

He told the Yorkshire Post: "I feel very passionate about our region, its prospects and its success."

Despite numerous invitations to move to London during his career to date, Mr Jenkins said: "My priority is the success of our business in this region.

"This is where I'm based, where my family are and where I have a fantastic network of relationships across corporate businesses and the professional and financial community."

Mr Jenkins, who has established a reputation as a leading dealmaker over the last 15 years, said he would be doing "an awful lot of listening" when he takes over on December 31.

"I have a great belief that you should listen then lead," he added.

Mr Jenkins said: "I'm inheriting a business which is in very good shape.

"We have come through and weathered the financial crisis and recession very satisfact- orily.

"I have a great foundation and a really exceptional team of people from which to look to the future and build on in what's going to continue to be a challenging and somewhat uncertain environment."

He added: "It's not going to be a straight-forward uniform recovery. It will probably be a bit fragmented.

But ultimately we will see a slow recovery over the course of the next couple of years. So much of it will depend on the rest of the world.

"We are in a globalised environment and different sectors will recover at different rates and different economies around the world will recover at different rates.

"I believe we are unlikely to see a double-dip recession.

"Growth, albeit low and a little bit fragile, is the more likely scenario."

He said Yorkshire has successfully navigated difficult economic challenges in the past. For example, the manufacturing sector has become leaner, more efficient and focused on value-added areas.

He said he had confidence in Yorkshire, the quality of its corporate businesses and workforce.

"A lot of this boils down to confidence," he said. "The biggest threat to the performance of our economy is around confidence."

Mr Jenkins said the Yorkshire deals market is "by its very nature somewhat lumpy" and has seen a partial recovery in mergers and acquisitions both nationally and locally.

The first half of 2010 was quite busy, particularly in the larger-sized deals, but the number of completions has since slowed down.

He added: "If you take our pipeline as a measure of market activity, the pipeline is strong and we expect to be very busy in quarter one completing transactions.

"One pleasing aspect of our pipeline is it reflects a degree of recovery in the mid market, around the 10m-75m area, which historically has been a very important segment for Yorkshire."

Asked if Deloitte could grow its audit work in a Northern market dominated by Big Four rival PwC, he said: "I believe that we can. Clearly (listed companies] don't come up for tender that often.

"As a business, we have been very successful in growing our audit share both nationally and at a local level over the course of the past five or six years.

"That's been a focus for us."

However, he added: "There are other opportunities that offer growth."

His strategy is to have a "very broad and very deep" offering to support clients and "find those areas where we can grow our business".

Geoff Taylor, who is retiring, said: "Martin is a very well known and respected figure in the business community and a hugely capable partner who will bring a new perspective and fresh approach to the leadership of the firm.

"I am proud to hand over the leadership of the practice from a position of great strength in the market."

Responding to clients' needs

Martin Jenkins will be responsible for nearly 540 Deloitte employees, including 82 partners and directors, across two offices in Leeds and Newcastle.

He said: "Our clients' needs have changed a great deal over the past two years and we will continue to develop our business to deliver the most relevant expertise in a period of continued economic change.

"The last year has seen significant growth in our tax, public sector, debt advisory and financial services practices together with a partial recovery in the M&A market. The addi-tion of a specialist property consultancy to the firm (thr-ough Drivers Jonas) is already having a positive impact on our ability to advise many clients."