Peter Terry signs up for the Jonny Boyers dream team
Peter Terry is to leave Grant Thornton after seven years as a corporate finance partner to join his former KPMG colleague Jonathan Boyers as he builds a formidable new corporate finance team at Alvarez & Marsal.
The pair worked together at KPMG in the 2000s and Terry’s role at A&M will be as Boyers’ right hand man to build a substantial mid-market corporate finance advisory business out of Manchester, but doing deals across Europe.
Jo Sheerin
In addition, Jo Sheerin has already started work at A&M as director of deal origination, a similar role to the one she worked under Boyers at when he was the senior UK corporate finance partner at KPMG.
It is anticipated that more recruits are to be announced next week.
Boyers rocked the corporate finance world in January when he announced his intention to leave the Big Four firm and seek a new challenge.
Many were surprised in February when it was revealed on TheBusinessDesk.com that his destination was to be Alvarez & Marsal, and although he has been tight lipped during his extended period of gardening leave – attending Glastonbury and holidaying in exotic climes – he has clearly proved to be a major draw in attracting talent to the team he is building.
Terry’s departure from Grant Thornton will be a blow to the firm who welcomed his recruitment to the partnership in 2017 as the start of “great things”. In a statement it only noted that he is to “retire from the Grant Thornton partnership”.
Most recently Terry worked with Mercia and the other shareholders of ParkVia on the sale to CAVU (part of Manchester Airport Group). In the tough year of 2021 his team completed 22 deals with a total value of £684million.
He was shortlisted for TheBusinessDesk.com’s Rainmaker of the Year Award 2023, narrowly missing out to Andy Feeke of MHA Moore and Smalley.
Prior to Grant Thornton he spent seven years at Mazars in Manchester, three years as a partner at BDO, and before that, more than 10 years at KPMG.
Terry has been contacted by TheBusinessDesk.com, but declined to comment.
Grant Thornton confirmed he is to leave the partnership and is understood to be on six months notice.
TheBusinessDesk.com understands Terry’s role will be to recruit additional partner level specialists in Manchester and Leeds, and deep sector specialists more broadly.
Until then it is likely he will work on his father’s farm near Bolton and take his camper van on a tour of Europe.
Jonathan Boyers
Although Boyers is still restricted in the work he can do until he formally severs his ties with KPMG, the ambition is to build a Europe-wide corporate finance practice earning £50m a year in fees by 2029.
The firm has currently has an office in Manchester with 50 employees working across tax advice, transaction services, debt advisory and restructuring, including turnaround specialists Mark Firmin, Paul Flint and Michael Magnay.
Formed in 1983, globally A&M has 7000 employees across 31 countries and specialises in turnaround and change for corporate clients, banks, private equity investors and distressed borrowers and lenders.
A spokesperson for Grant Thornton said: “Matt Bryden-Smith has agreed to step into a new leadership role as Head of M&A North-West Region, and Jim Whittaker will take the leadership role as Head of M&A North-East Region.
“We are excited to see them both step into leadership roles in Grant Thornton’s M&A team, as Peter Terry retires from the Grant Thornton partnership. Grant Thornton’s M&A team is 130 people strong nationally, with a solid international position that sees the firm dominate the UK mid-market, regularly ranking in Experian’s deal reviews as first or second by deal volumes over many years.”
