Accenture appoints Irine Gaasbeek as Chief Executive for the Netherlands

Accenture has appointed Irine Gaasbeek as the firm’s new Country Managing Director for the Netherlands. Gaasbeek succeeds Manon van Beek and becomes the third successive female to lead Accenture’s Dutch arm. 

Irine Gaasbeek is currently head of Accenture’s Financial Services practice in the Netherlands, responsible for leading the firm’s activities in the banking, insurance, and capital markets sectors. Prior to assuming this role in 2014, she led Accenture’s SAP practice and held various leadership roles within Accenture’s Utilities and Technology practices in the Netherlands. 

“Irine is a seasoned leader and the right person to run our business in the Netherlands,” said Jo Deblaere, Accenture’s global Chief Operating Officer. “She possesses a powerful combination of skills, experience and drive for helping clients. With an impressive track record of collaborating with clients and growing practices, we are confident she will do extremely well in her new role.” 

In her new role – Gaasbeek takes the helm on 1 June 2018 – she will lead the endeavours of the firm’s 2,500 employees in the Netherlands, as well as continue the firm’s strategy to focus more on innovation and digital transformation. With a revenue of €794 million, Accenture is of a similar size to the Dutch organisations of the Big Four, while in the IT and outsourcing segment the firm competes with the likes of Atos and Capgemini and several local players, including Centric and Ordina.

The new Chief Executive takes over the top spot from Manon van Beek, who similar to Gaasbeek has been with Accenture since the start of her career. Van Beek has decided to transition to the energy sector, taking on the role of CEO of TenneT, a large Dutch utilities provider. “We thank Manon for her leadership and 22 years of dedication to Accenture. We wish her the best of luck in her new role at TenneT,” remarked Deblaere. 

The appointment of Gaasbeek continues a run of female CEO’s for Accenture in the Netherlands – Manon van Beek herself replaced Anja Montijn-Groenewoud, who today serves as a non-executive director on the Boards of OCI and Fugro. Similar to her predecessors, Gaasbeek becomes one of the few women that lead a large professional services firm in the country, with Anneke van Zanen-Nieberg, the chief executive of Baker Tilly Berk, one of the few other exceptions in the male-dominated boardrooms of consultancies. 

Globally, Accenture has 442,000 employees serving clients in more than 120 countries. The company is led by the Frenchman Pierre Nanterme.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, last month Capgemini Consulting named Marc Burger Head of its Dutch business.