Anthony becomes first female CEO of Big Four accounting firm

Anna Anthony has been appointed EY’s new UK managing partner, the first permanent woman CEO of a Big Four consultancy firm.

Anthony begins her role as EY’s UK and Ireland regional managing partner in January but has been a partner for 16 years and has led EY’s UK financial services since 2021.

Outgoing UK CEO Hywel Ball will remain the chair until a successor is appointed “early in the new year”, said EY. 

Anthony’s promotion makes her one of the most powerful figures at EY globally. The company had revenues of US$49.4bn in the year running up to June 2023. 

She said: “I am incredibly proud to be taking on this role and to have the opportunity to lead the firm that I joined more than 20 years ago.”

Anthony qualified as an accountant at PwC after studying Law at Cambridge University. She specialised in tax before becoming International Tax Advisor for EY in 2004. 

Ball described Anthony as “an exceptional leader, with a breadth and depth of experience that makes her an excellent choice as our next regional managing partner”. 

In 2021, Mary O’ Connor became the first woman to temporarily lead a Big Four business in the UK when she was appointed to lead KPMG’s UK business, but she was appointed on an interim basis. 

Why so few female CEOs?

While board diversity has improved overall in the FTSE 100 and 250 companies, with women holding over 40% of the board positions, the number of women in CEO roles is still low. 

Currently only 11 per cent of FTSE 100 companies have women CEOs. At the current rate of change, it is estimated that there will only be an equal number of men and women leading FTSE companies - reflecting demographics - by 2057. 

Figures from Fortune 500 companies reflect this trend, with only 52 women CEOs running Fortune 500 companies (10.4 per cent). 

Of the 52 women CEOs, around a quarter (12) were appointed to their positions in the last year.

This number has more than doubled in the past six years and has increased by 2,500% since 1998, when only two Fortune 500 companies were run by women. 

Among these women there is a significant lack of racial diversity, only five women of the 52 are women of colour. 

Women vastly underrepresented

There has been a push to get more women into leadership roles after the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship found that there is a vast underrepresentation of women in these roles. 

The review, commissioned by the UK government in 2018, was led by former Natwest CEO Alison Rose DBE, shed light on the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the UK.

It found that only one in three UK entrepreneurs were women, and estimated that up to £250bn new value could be added to the UK economy if women started and scaled UK businesses at the same rate as men.

Key barriers identified included limited access to funding, family care responsibilities, lower confidence in their abilities and a lack of relatable role models. 

The review’s findings highlight persistent challenges in the broader context of women in leadership roles, including the underrepresentation of women as CEOs in major corporations.

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