At DWF, Varley will Chair the firm's Group Board, providing non-executive oversight of the group strategy.
Varley has a career of more than 30 years in the professional services industry, including 14 years at Accenture (previously Andersen Consulting), and 18 years at EY. He joined EY in 2005 to build the firm's consulting practice in Northern Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. After successfully growing that business, Varley was elected as UK & Ireland Chair and Managing Partner in 2011.
During his tenure as Chair and Managing Partner, EY saw annual revenues in the UK & Ireland increase from £1.35bn to £2.6bn, with its workforce expanding from 14,000 to 20,000 across 19 offices. In 2020, he became EY's Global Vice-Chair for Sustainability, growing its global sustainability practice from 3500 to 8500 professionals and helping companies around the world to create value from becoming more sustainable.
Steve was a member of the Business Advisory Group to two Prime Ministers, accompanying PM David Cameron as an advisor to China, Malaysia, Brazil, Indonesia and Japan.
Steve Varley said: "I am delighted to have been appointed as non-executive chair of DWF. It is a highly ambitious business with a clear strategy and a commitment to creating sustainable growth. The firm's values align with my own and I look forward to working with Nigel and the Executive Board in playing my part to help DWF on the next stage of its journey."
Sir Nigel Knowles, chief executive officer of DWF, added: "I am very pleased to welcome Steve to the Group Board of DWF. One of our stated ambitions is to build a global professional services firm with our heritage in law. Steve has an exceptional level of experience in building and growing global professional services businesses and I have no doubt that his expertise will be of great benefit to DWF."
