KPMG’S new senior partner in Reading Emma Gibson on how owning her own business has prepared her to help others

Captaining your own business can be a hardening experience with the highs and lows, brought on by the shifting economic tides, making those at the helm hardened to the waves of business life.

For Emma Gibson, who is the Senior Partner for KPMG’s Reading office, it was the experience of running her own business that chartered her on course for a legal career focused on corporate finance. 

Emma has worked in the Thames Valley's legal sector for 25 years, spending the lion's share of that with Shoosmiths before moving over to KPMG in 2017.

Prior to embarking on a career in corporate law, Emma ran her own performing arts centres for seven years 

She said: "What it did give me was some really good insights into what it's like to run your own businesses.

"I can honestly say that I don't think I worked as hard as I did in that seven-year period. It was intense because the buck stops with you.

"When you have been through this, you can talk to people who have their own businesses with an understanding of what they are going through and work with them to help with the pressure they are under.

"You can't take the pressure away completely but you can help ease it by offering solutions and giving commercial advice."

KPMG's new office in Reading

It was the recession in the nineties that convinced Emma to pivot into law as rising interest rates put pressure on costs and the arts industry began consolidating, leaving little room for manoeuvre for smaller operators.

She said:  "I was just keeping my head above the water. I never made any money from the business but I didn't lose any and I didn't owe anybody any money.

"When I was retraining as a lawyer, my previous experience meant that I wanted to work in other than corporate law because I wanted to help business owners and entrepreneurs and work with corporates having run a business myself."

SUBHEADLINE: POWER OF COLLABORATION 

Emma is a passionate believer in the power of collaboration and working with organisations to strengthen the economic position of the Thames Valley.

She has been a Director of the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP and has also worked closely with Henley Business Angles to support early-stage companies.

Emma said her experience with the LEP opened her eyes to the power of collaboration

She said: "It's easy when you are in a professional services industry to just surround yourself with other people from the professional services industry.

"When I started with the LEP, the board was made up of people from completely different backgrounds”. 

"There were business leaders from all industries, people from the council and the chamber, people from education and from the third sector.

"It was a really diverse board, and I learned a lot from the people on it in terms of different ways to get things done."

KPMG's new office in Reading

Emma is keen to take the lessons she has learned so far in her career, particularly with the LEP, into her current role.

She said: "We are keen to work closely with the Thames Valley community.

"The early-stage businesses that we have in the Thames Valley are what makes this patch unique compared to other areas and we need to continue to invest our time and energy into them so that this remains the case." 

SUBHEADLINE: THAMES VALLEY TECH 

KPMG Reading is one of the firm’s leading office in the UK for tech clients with the team adept at exploiting opportunities in artificial intelligence and cloud computing while helping clients to minimise risks. 

Emma said: "We work with more tech companies than any other KPMG office and that is deliberate as it is an absolute focus for us.

"And that for us includes early-stage startups and high growth firms all the way through to the largest tech businesses on our patch.”

The Thames Valley is renowned for its deal making activity and KPMG is a key cog in this, however, they too have not been immune from the economic climate with transaction numbers varying from sector to sector and with some sectors being hit harder than others.

Emma said: “Pipelines remain strong and is confident of a pick-up in the market.

"I think all of us have probably closed less transactions than we would've wanted to this year”.

"Businesses are still keen to talk and people in the industry think that it will pick up towards the end of this year or the beginning of 2024. 

"Private equity still wants to invest, corporates still want to buy and founders still want to sell."

Emma took up the lead role at KPMG's Reading office at the start of the year and has made bedding staff into the company's ‘new’ central office in Reading, which KPMG moved into just before the start of the first lockdown.

KPMG was previously in Theale and has moved into a custom-built workspace in Forbury Place. 

She said: "I think our old office hindered us from being part of the ecosystem as people had to drive into town before attending events.

"The decision to move was a commercial and business decision but it has helped attract and retain staff. 

"It has also raised our presence locally and we are no longer the best kept secret in the Thames Valley."