Claire Reid has been named PwC’s first female Regional Leader in Scotland. She replaces Lindsay Gardiner, who is stepping down from the role after seven years.

Passionate about diversity and inclusion in addition to the way technology is transforming business, Claire has spent her career at PwC, having joined the firm in Glasgow in 1998. Until July 1 she was Head of Assurance for the firm in Scotland, while also leading the growing Technology Risk practice nationally across the UK.

With a background in technology which has seen her spend two years in Silicon Valley and a further ten in London, Claire’s appointment comes as PwC significantly increases its investment in using the likes of data and cyber security to improve its offering to clients.

As part of the change in leadership, Lindsay Gardiner will continue within the firm’s audit business as both a member of the UK Audit Executive and as an Audit partner for a wide range of clients. This comes at a time when PwC has recently announced a £30m annual investment in enhancing audit quality, and published its perspectives on the Future of Audit.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Claire gained a degree in International Business and Modern Languages from the University of Strathclyde before joining PwC. In her early career with the firm Claire was based in Silicon Valley, California where she worked with a number of high-profile technology clients. When she returned to the UK, she was based in London, tasked with establishing and developing PwC’s Oracle assurance business. She then spent time building the firm’s fledgling cyber security business. She returned to Scotland in 2016 to take up the role as Head of Assurance, where she has overseen a growth in Risk Assurance services, including cyber security, data and analytics and operational resilience.

Claire’s passion for diversity and inclusion, particularly in gender equality, has led her to be an active mentor to aspiring female leaders both within PwC and externally, as well as being the partner sponsor of PwC’s mental health and wellbeing programme in Glasgow.

Claire Reid, Regional Leader, PwC Scotland, commented:

“I am truly honoured to take on the role as Regional Leader for Scotland.  It’s great to be back home in Scotland, working with local organisations and supporting them to prosper and grow across the region.

“Scotland has a dynamic and thriving economy with lots of great opportunity for business, our communities and the people of Scotland. I am really excited to build on our recent success and on our investment in Scotland. With my background in technology and digital change, I look forward to bringing continued energy and focus to this topic for our region.

“Lindsay has been an inspiring leader and I have learned much from him since I returned to Scotland in 2016. He has overseen a period of huge change for our business here – one which has grown into a truly progressive and tech-enabled firm with diversity and inclusion at the heart of what we do.”

Lindsay Gardiner commented:

“Leading our wider team in Scotland for the last seven years has been a privilege and great fun. A lot has changed in that time, both in the way we deliver services for our clients, and in the firm itself. We now work, in some respects, for the majority of  listed companies based in Scotland, have developed our Oil and Gas and Financial Services centres of excellence and significantly grown our services to locally-based private organisations and across the public sector. We now have more than 900 staff in Scotland and we have opened our new offices in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

“I am really proud of the diversity of skills and talent that we now have particularly in technology industries, including the launch or our data degrees, and I am sure we will continue to see this develop strongly under Claire’s leadership.”