Grant Thornton reaches “above and beyond” £500m revenue targets

FINANCIAL advisors Grant Thornton have delivered UK revenues of £521m.

The firm had laid out plans for growth in its ‘Ambition 2015′ programme, which targeted £500m in revenues. Its results are an improvement for the sixth consecutive year, last year reaching £512m.

For the year to 30 June 2015, the firm also reported pretax profits of £82m and profit per partner was up 3.4% ro £398,000.

The firm’s audit and tax service lines increased by 5% or more, with audit bringing in £142m and tax services: £96.3m.

Grant Thornton in Yorkshire has been involved in a number of major deals this year, including the MBO of the £100m-turnover York Mailing Group, and the acquisition of Huddersfield’s Tastecard by a private equity firm.

It has more than 300 staff across its Yorkshire and North East offices which are located in Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle.

Mark Overfield, partner at Grant Thornton in Leeds, said: “The positive national picture is reflective of what we’ve seen here.

“As well as growing our audit and tax practices, corporate finance also put in a strong performance as the market improved – the team, led by partner Richard Goldsack, completed four transactions in just four days in the summer.

“In Yorkshire, our restructuring advisory services have also remained buoyant as we have continued to support businesses facing challenges.

“Over the last year, we’ve made a number of key senior appointments as well as welcoming a record 28 graduates and school leavers to the Yorkshire offices. Nurturing young talent and enabling our team to grow with us is vital not only to our continued success, but also to the creation of an effective Northern powerhouse.

“Alongside this, we are currently reshaping our working environment with the Leeds office currently undergoing a major re-development to foster more vibrant ways of working with each other and with our clients. This will include a dedicated client hub with an innovative drop-in area to encourage collaboration and better support our flexible, agile working style.

Chief executive Sacha Romanovitch started on 1 July, but said the firm has made key investments and “a relentless focus on creating real value for our clients.”

Grant Thornton did say that their restructuring and financial services business consulting activities were slowing due to the ending of high-profile work. Corporate failures have been declining because of the upturn in the economy, which saw the firm’s recovery and reorganisation business see reduced revenues.

Grant Thornton chief executive Sacha Romanovitch said: “Ambition 2015 called for an investment in our people and in 2015, the firm took on over 300 trainees, 20% of which would not have been considered prior to the dropping of academic barriers two years ago – a move driven by the firm’s commitment to increasing access to the profession and improving social mobility

“Moreover, we’ve continued investment in our people through cultural change and brand advocacy initiatives, helping to grow our people as well-rounded advisors who are better able to adapt to our client’s and market needs.”