Member Article

Grant Thornton invests in Yorkshire and North East talent

LEADING business advisory firm Grant Thornton UK LLP has announced a raft of 40 new appointments and promotions in Yorkshire and the North East as it invests in the future.

The firm, which has offices in Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, has seen strong demand from clients for support throughout an unprecedented period of challenge and change over the past 11 months, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit among the major issues business have faced.

Andy Wood, Managing Partner of Grant Thornton in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “The last 12 months have been remarkably challenging for all businesses and as a trusted advisor we have done our best to support our clients to help them adapt to the changes we have all had to make.

“Our people have responded brilliantly over the last year, so I am really pleased to be recognising some outstanding contributions with four rising stars, Duncan Morpeth, Richard Oddy, Eimear Considine and Dan Mansfield earning promotions to Director.

“People are our business, so I am delighted that we are investing in the next generation of talent, with more than 30 people joining the team at school-leaver or graduate level in Yorkshire and the North East.”

Among the promotions to Director is Duncan Morpeth from the Corporate Finance team. Duncan and the team have had an outstanding year, advising on multiple transactions including YFM’s investment in Leeds based Force24 and the sale of Fultons Foods in Barnsley to Poundland.

A second senior promotion in the Advisory team has seen restructuring expert Richard Oddy, promoted to Director. Working with Partner Chris Petts, he led on two high profile administrations in late 2020, Universal Recycling, the south Yorkshire business, and Leeds-based retailer CB Imports. Richard’s specialism also include cases involving asset based lending.

Also promoted to Director is transport expert Dan Mansfield in the Public Sector Advisory team.

Dan has recently advised: Nexus on the procurement of a new fleet and depot for the Tyne and Wear Metro; Merseytravel on the procurement of a new train fleet for the Mersey Electrics network; Transport for Greater Manchester on the audit of their Bus Reform Proposals and also carried out a funding and financing study for Transport for the North.

Based in Sheffield, and working nationally Eimear Considine is now a Director in the firm’s Consulting team and leads the firm’s Transformation and Programme Management Office team, where she helps businesses manage through transitional change to become more resilient, efficient and better-able to maximise market opportunities.

The majority of the new hires, at school leaver and graduate level, are in the firm’s tax and audit practices.

Alongside the director promotions in Yorkshire, Paul Wilson, an expert in VAT, has been promoted to partner. Based in the North-West, Paul is a key member of the Northern tax team and has many clients in Yorkshire and the North East.

Alongside its investment in people, the firm is extending its popular ‘virtual network’ for CEOs and Finance Directors which it established during Lockdown1 as an important forum for company leaders to access peer-to-peer support and to allow them to share their experiences and exchange ideas.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Helena Young .