Harris to retire after stellar 36-year career
One of the East Midlands’ best-known business leaders has announced that he is retiring after a 36-year career.
Kevin Harris, latterly partner at RSM, will officially step down on December 31. He will remain as chair of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce until January 2026.
Harris has, over the years, become one of the most trusted voices on the regional economy. His career has seen him take on several roles, most notably at Cooper Parry, where he spent 22 years. He has transformed the fortunes of RSM in the East Midlands since he joined in 2017.
He has also held board positions at the Midlands Engine and Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
Talking to TheBusinessDesk.com, Harris spoke of his decision to step down.
“It was always part of the plan,” he said. “When I joined RSM in 2017, I always saw it as a maximum ten-year project. I wanted to bring the offices closer together and get the right successor in place. With Sheetel [Sanghvi, office managing partner in the East Midlands at RSM] I think we have that. I’ve achieved the objectives I set myself.”
Harris said he “needed a new challenge” when he left Cooper Parry.
He added: “I wanted to rejuvenate RSM in the East Midlands, and I think I’ve done that. It’s almost job done. Now it’s time to embark on a new role and get the work/life balance more in line with how I want it.”
Harris now plans to do some consultancy work. He has a business set up to be launched in January – along with some clients. He’ll be working with SME owners looking to grow – and possibly exit – their businesses.
Harris admits that his profession has changed since his first job at Clarke Whitehill in Birmingham at the end of the 1980s.
“It was a very different profession back in late ’80s/early ’90s,” he said. “Back then the partnership model was very hierarchical. Some of partners I worked for back then, they built really great relationships with clients; and in some cases the clients came first, and staff came second. I learned to always deliver high quality service to clients from this and from the partners I was worked with at Cooper Parry between 1995-2000.”
Harris said that the one thing could have held him back early in his career was a lack of confidence.
He said: “In early days I just didn’t have confidence. But after I’d been doing the job for a while confidence just hit me. I began to realise: ‘I can do this!’. I wish I hadn’t been so nervous about it all, looking back. I really do think you have to believe in yourself.
“The whole point in working towards being a partner was that so I could control my destiny. I’ve had two really big decisions during my career: to leave Cooper Parry; and, now, to retire. But I’ve absolutely loved it.”
Sam Metcalf, editor at TheBusinessDesk.com, said: “Kevin has been a constant in my career – ever since I started covering the East Midlands in 2007.
“I remember chairing my first round table event back then at Cooper Parry’s new offices in Leicester, and I was incredibly nervous. Kevin immediately put me at ease – and basically chaired it for me!
“Since that time, he’s been a huge help to me – always ready for to give his take on the regional economy, take part in an event, be an awards judge, or simply to talk about the footy over a pint at some event or other. He’ll be missed by many on a day-to-day basis, but I’m sure he’ll be as influential as ever in his new role.”
