Grant Thornton

The overview

Grant Thornton is the UK’s fifth largest accountancy firm and specialises in assurance, advisory services, and tax. With 27 offices across the UK, it is a member firm of Grant Thornton International, which employs 29,974 staff worldwide and is structured as an association of independently owned and managed organisations rather than a single corporate entity.

Clients

A selection of Grant Thornton International’s clients include government agencies, local non-government organisations (NGOs), and small and medium-sized private sector enterprises, amongst others. Some of its research publications have a high media profile, such as the International Business Report (IBR), which regularly generates headlines. Grant Thornton’s US business provides the biggest slice of the organisation’s global revenue, followed by its UK arm.

South Africa is a key market for future expansion, and Grant Thornton already has a solid base there following a merger with BDO’s operations in Cape Town. It is also seeking growth in China and India.

Awards and rankings

• Ranked 77 in Universum’s UK’s Ideal Employers 2011.
• Ranked 81 in Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, 2011-12.
• Ranked 155 in Guardian UK 300, 2011. Ranked in the top ten most popular employers in accounting and financial management.
• Graduate Development Award, Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), 2011
• FDs’ Excellence Awards Auditor of the Year, 2010 and 2011. These awards recognise the achievements of individual finance directors and are held in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
• Consistently ranked as top auditor of AIM-listed firms in recent years
• UK Pension Awards Pension Scheme Accountant of the Year 2011, in recognition of its services to occupational pension schemes and their members.

Salary and benefits

Grant Thornton describes starting salaries as competitive – probably around £25,000. Pay is dependent on location and role, however, so in London this perhaps rises to somewhere in the region of £27,500.

Other benefits include:

• 22 days holiday
• life assurance
• private healthcare
• a pension scheme
• a range of loans
• an interest-free loan to cover moving
• money for a bicycle with Bike2Work
• flexible opt-in benefits like dental plans, insurance or up to 10 days extra holiday
• free fresh fruit

Culture and values

Grant Thornton defines its culture under three areas: ‘global vision’, ‘global values’ and ‘experience for our people’:

International ambition

The firm aims to be the foremost name in its field, not just in the UK but globally. For example, a 2011 merger with the assurance and consulting firm Rosexpertiza has significantly widened opportunities in the Russian market.

Values

The firm emphasises six core values:

1. Agility: understanding the markets and accepting that changes in these will consequently affect changes in employees’ daily work. There may be sudden changes to deadlines, so employees will have to stay flexible.
2. Collaboration: given the firm’s international nature, collaboration with colleagues and clients often needs to take a global view. Employees must be good communicators in these scenarios, as well as when interacting with colleagues in their home office.
3. Excellence: relatively straightforward, this means constantly improving working practices and results and, hence, reputation.
4. Leadership: in many roles, this means acting as a representative of the organisation when working directly with clients. It stands to reason that Grant Thornton would want employees to come across as confident and knowledgeable when advising clients. In addition, leadership at the firm means encouraging colleagues to develop and improve their work.
5. Respect: a case of showing an appreciation for the workload and efforts of others. Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is really the principle, here.
6. Responsibility: both in the sense of acting in an accountable fashion when working with clients’ assets, but also in terms of acting professionally to ensure that Grant Thornton’s reputation is upheld.

Grant Thornton makes a point of emphasising its relationship with clients, and among staff there is a constant focus on commerciality and market awareness. Recruiters look for more than just the ability to do the job; an awareness of trends in the market and of the potential impact of current affairs on the business should be a key focus for applicants.

In addition to these values, the firm concerns itself with the need for good ethical practices and corporate responsibility. Grant Thornton has a number of charitable and voluntary connections, and policy initiatives aimed towards encouraging transparency and professional conduct are in place.

‘Experience for our people’

This is essentially an emphasis on making the firm a decent place to work, both in terms of the day-to-day environment and the benefits of improving the wider reputation of Grant Thornton. The tangible impact of this emphasis is that employees are given the chance to work on interesting projects, be paid a fair rate for their work, and work with colleagues across the business. Details on career progression and qualifications can be obtained through the links at the top, in the training and qualifications section of the careers and training tab above.

How can graduates use this information?

Because Grant Thornton places a strong emphasis on its values and aims, it is likely that the competencies tested will be aligned with these. Given these values, it can be inferred that candidates will need to demonstrate:

• Commercial awareness, particularly with regard to international markets
• Communication skills
• Leadership and teamworking skills
• Responsibility
• Flexibility

For tips on how to demonstrate these competences, see the ‘How to get hired’ section of this Employer Insight.