PwC Australia’s new chief executive Kevin Burrowes walked into his blackened, water-sodden office in Sydney’s Barangaroo on July 17, having hastily left his post in the tax haven of Singapore.

Those first four weeks were arduous indeed. As he arrived, he held the door open for Meredith Beattie, the outgoing chief lawyer to Tom Seymour and Luke Sayers, among others. Burrowes then held 30 listening sessions and completed a tour of PwC’s sites around the country. He even paid a visit to the newsroom of The Australian Financial Review with his Californian PR minder Ryan Stanton.