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Sir William Barclay Peat CVO (15 February 1852 – 24 January 1936) was an accountant and one of the founders of KPMG . Career. Peat born in Forebank, St Cyrus, Kincardine, Scotland. He was the second son of James Peat and Margaret Barclay (of the banking family that built Barclays, one of England's largest banks). [1] .
When a young William Barclay Peat started work, as a clerk for a London accountancy firm in 1870, it's unlikely he was thinking about the legacy he'd leave behind. 150 years later, Peat is the 'P' in KPMG: a global network of firms that employs over 200,000 people.
In 1816, Robert Fletcher started working as an accountant and in 1839 the firm he worked for changed its name to Robert Fletcher & Co. [8] William Barclay Peat joined the firm in 1870 at 17 and became head of the firm in 1891, renamed William Barclay Peat & Co. by then. [9]
In the first and second World Wars the British government turned to Sir Harry Peat (son of William Barclay Peat) and appointed him to be financial secretary designate of the Ministry of Food. The Ministry had the hugely important job of ensuring there were no food shortages in the UK.
Scottish-born Sir William Barclay Peat was the second son of James Peat and Margaret Barclay (of the banking family that built Barclays Bank, one of England’s largest). Born of privilege, Peat stud-ied law at the prestigious Montrose.
William Barclay Peat (the Pin KPMG) started his career in accountancy at just 17, 1891 working for Robert Fletcher & Co. He quickly rose through the ranks, and in 1891, Peat assumed leadership of the firm, and renamed it William Barclay Pert &Co.
The journey of William Peat did not end when he became the partner of the firm. Instead of being just a partner, he tried to gain the leadership of the whole firm. In 1891, he succeeded in doing so and he renamed the firm to William Barclay Peat & Company. With this, he started his legacy in accounting.
