SEAMUS HAND

KPMG Ireland

KPMG has 102 partners and over 3,300 people based in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway. Seamus Hand was previously a partner in the firm’s financial services practice, with expertise across the asset management, aviation, banking and insurance sectors.

ACTIVITY The impacts of the pandemic presented a diverse set of challenges for many of our clients and for our own organisation. Over the last 12 months we have witnessed real resilience from businesses big and small in many sectors of our economy – businesses that had to manage uncertainty rarely contemplated in contingency plans.

We have seen an accelerated pace of digital adoption and our consulting practice has been supporting clients with this transformation. The pandemic has also highlighted the vulnerability of our society to external factors and the need for companies to be run in a purpose-led and socially responsible manner.

REMOTE WORKING I’m incredibly proud of how well our people have transitioned to working from home and dealing with the new challenges this has presented. We had already invested significantly in secure technology, which has helped the transition significantly. However, there is no avoiding the fact that our business is fundamentally about people, and we are missing the opportunity to get together and collaborate with our teams and our clients.

BUSINESS SUPPORTS The initial policy response to provide broad support to businesses impacted by the crisis was appropriate, but now needs to be tailored more, so that appropriate levels of support can be channelled to the parts of our economy worst impacted. Government and business appreciate that greater certainty, where possible, and clarity on vaccination milestones, will help enormously.

ENTERPRISE The pandemic has accelerated much change that was happening anyway. For example, our last KPMG CEO survey showed that many businesses have implemented change in months that would have ordinarily taken several years to achieve. Much of this transformation is digital in nature and is a feature in practically every sector we operate in, which is hugely exciting.

It’s important also to say at a macro level, that Ireland is well placed to emerge strongly from the pandemic. Pharma, tech and food for example are all sectors where we’re working with clients to help them achieve ambitious plans. I’m inspired by the resilience and innovation in so many of our private and family-owned businesses. Their endless drive to succeed, seeking out new markets and overall ingenuity has been exceptional. And it’s really important that we remember how important they are to the economy.

‘We have seen an accelerated pace of digital adoption’