Grant Thornton UK CEO Sacha Romanovitch’s appraisal has been leaked to various UK news outlets alongside anonymous partner criticism.
An anonymous letter which is said to reflect the views of 15 partners or directors stated that Romanovitch has a ‘socialist agenda’, according to the Financial Times.
Romanovitch, who has led the firm’s UK arm since 2015, is set to make a bid for a second term of leadership in the next couple of weeks.
The FT spoke to three partners, who wished to remain anonymous and denied being responsible for the letter. They said that, while the letter was ‘exaggerated’, they did express sympathy with some of its criticisms.
A spokesperson for the firm told The Times: “It is frustrating that an individual partner has chosen to display a lack of judgement by sending an anonymous letter to media outlets, including personal information about Grant Thornton employees.”
The public criticism of Romanavitch comes at an awkward time for the firm, as the UK market looks poised for reform.
Two weeks ago, Grant Thornton UK itself proposed an independent board to assign auditors to FTSE 350 companies in an effort to help tackle the lack of competition in the market which is dominated by the Big Four.
