New PricewaterhouseCoopers boss Mark Smith relishes the challenge
Mar 26 2009 by Alun Thorne, Birmingham Post
Tom Fleming speaks to Mark Smith about assuming the regional chairmanship of one of the ‘big four’, PwC, at just 45.
Mark Smith is a man who likes a challenge. Despite spending the last few months preparing to take the reins at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Midlands in the eye of the biggest financial crisis the region has seen in decades, he still managed to find the time to move house.
Add to that the fact that he has taken on the chairmanship of the firm from David Waller, one of the best known figures in the Birmingham business community and at 45, is one of the youngest individuals to assume the role, it appears there will be plenty to keep the Leicester-born assurance expert busy over the year ahead.
“No sooner had I begun to prepare for the new role when the global financial crisis really took hold so there wasn’t much time to consider the notion that moving home is one of life’s most stressful challenges,” said Mr Smith.
Safely installed in the new Sutton Coldfield home he shares with his wife and two daughters, Smith is now free to consider the challenges associated with running a professional services firm amid such unprecedented economic conditions.
“One of the most remarkable things for me about the last few months has been the contagion-like speed at which information on the financial crisis has spread,” he said. “Whereas we relied upon terrestrial television and the traditional print press for information on the recession of the early nineties, thanks to today’s 24 hour media culture, this time around the economic conditions have come into much sharper focus more quickly.
“Many people have been quick to knock the financial services community over its role in the bringing about the current state of affairs. But while there are undoubtedly questions to be asked about some of the practices that have taken place, we shouldn’t forget that the country’s financial services sector has been instrumental in bringing about and supporting the period of growth and stability we have all enjoyed over the past decade or so.”
A veteran of the firm of more than 23 years, Smith has spent the majority of his career working within the Midlands business community and has been leading the firm’s assurance practice in the region since 2006. Over this time, the wider team
