Deloitte announced today that Sharon Thorne, deputy CEO and managing partner of global and strategy for Deloitte North West Europe, will become chair of the Deloitte Global Board of Directors beginning in June. She will be the first woman to hold that position with Deloitte.
Thorne, who joined Deloitte U.K. in 1986, will succeed David Cruickshank, whose four year-term as global board chair is coming to a close.
Thorne made headlines in November 2017 when she tweeted some not-so-nice things about then-U.K. foreign secretary and Gary Busey lookalike, Boris Johnson. If you recall, Deloitte apologized to the British government in late December 2016 for a leaked internal memo which stated that there was no plan for Brexit. As penance, the firm offered to cease bidding on government contracts for six months, which Caleb wrote “seems like an empty gesture since there aren’t that many firms out there that would be able to do the work in the first place.”
Well, even after Deloitte was allowed to resume bidding on government contracts, Thorne decided to mock ol’ Boris on social media. Sky News reported at that time:
Sky News can reveal that Sharon Thorne, the deputy chief executive of Deloitte in north-west Europe, posted on Twitter that Boris Johnson “should have gone already”, adding that he had “so much to answer for and (is) a national embarrassment”.
It included the hashtag ‘BorisOut’. …
Deloitte, which declined to comment on its social media policy for employees, said in a statement issued to Sky News on Wednesday evening that Ms Thorne’s tweet “was sent in a personal capacity and does not reflect the views of the firm”.
Thorne was also said to be a contender to replace Deloitte NWE Chairman David Sproul, whose second four-year term ends later this year. But that job went to Richard Houston, managing partner of Deloitte’s NWE and U.K. consulting businesses, who will take over as NWE Chairman on June 1.
Now based in London, Thorne is an audit partner who has more than 30 years of experience auditing and advising clients across a variety of sectors, according to a press release. She spent over 20 years of her career based in Deloitte U.K.’s Manchester office.
She has also spent nine years on the Deloitte Global Board, six years on the Deloitte U.K. Board, four years as chair of Deloitte CIS Holdings Ltd, and six years on the Board of the Confederation of British Industry.
