He was first appointed to the top job at the Big Four firm in 2021, and was re-elected with ‘overwhelming support’ for a second term, KPMG said.

Following a recommendation by the board’s nomination committee, the firm’s equity partners voted to extend Holt’s term by an additional five years. His second term will conclude on 30 September 2029. He was first appointed as chief executive in April 2021, replacing Bill Michael, following KPMG’s move to a new governance model, which created separate roles for its chair and chief executive.

Holt will lead the firm through a major restructure this year as the £1.25bn deals and consulting business is merged bringing together 6,700 staff in the new division. The transition work started in January 2024 and the decision reflected falling demand for advisory services.

‘2024 will see us make some big changes – combining our deals and consulting businesses into one practice called advisory – and exploring a potential merger with KPMG Switzerland to give us more collective power to invest and build new services for our clients,’ Holt said. ‘I am pleased to have the backing of my partners to deliver the next chapter of our strategy for our firm.'

The Swiss merger plan was announced last December and the firm indicated that the audit practices in the UK and Switzerland would remain ‘operationally separate with different P&L’ if a merger was to go ahead.

Before taking up the role, Holt, who has been with the firm since 1994, was head of audit and previously headed up the financial services practice. He has been instrumental in overhauling the audit business following a string of major audit misconduct investigations by the regulator in recent years, which saw the firm fined a record £21m in October 2023 for ‘seriously deficient’ audits for collapsed outsourcer Carillion.

When he was first appointed, Holt said: ‘When I came in as chief executive, I set out a plan to invest for the long term and build a resilient, sustainable business, this includes working even closer with our global network.’

Bina Mehta, chair of KPMG in the UK, said: ‘I’m delighted Jon has been re-elected for a second term. This is a reflection of the substantial progress he has made to transform our firm and puts us on a strong footing to deliver sustainable growth.’