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The firm has appointed two partners along with existing partners taking on supplementary roles.
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Grant Thornton reveals slew of additions and changes
25 January 2023
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Grant Thornton has appointed two additional partners along with promoting existing staff to more senior roles within the firm.
Both John Askham and Peter Burgess were promoted to partner in CFO advisory services and corporate finance respectively.
Mr Askham joined Grant Thornton in early 2022 after spending over 15 years with EY. He said he was looking forward to further supporting the firm’s clients in his new role, particularly through the growing focus on ESG reporting.
“CFOs and finance teams are under increasing pressure from a whole range of demands placed upon them by auditors, regulators, audit committees and investors in an increasingly resource constrained environment,” he said.
“ESG reporting is also landing with CFOs and finance teams, adding to the pressure and required new skill sets and specialist expertise.”
“Our goal is to provide CFOs, controllers, treasurers and audit committees with a one-stop shop for expertise, services and resources to support compliance with evolving financial and non-financial reporting requirements, and to optimise the efficiency of their finance functions.”
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Mr Burgess rejoins Grant Thornton as partner having previously spent eight years with the firm before working in the agribusiness and manufacturing industry.
The firm said Mr Burgess was excited to use his experience in advising public and private entities on the buy-side and sell-side of mergers and acquisitions, as well as capital raising to help early-stage firms realise their growth goals.
“Having worked throughout my career at Grant Thornton across Australia, US and India before venturing into the client side, it’s great to bring expertise back and be able to assist those in the agribusiness, food and beverage industry with their mergers and acquisition activity,” said Mr Burgess.
“Considering the post-COVID economic headwinds we’re seeing now and M&A activity returning back to historical levels in 2022, there is increasing growth within the sector and we’re in an opportune position to assist.”
Grant Thornton also appointed financial advisory partner Holly Stiles as its new national head of corporate finance.
Ms Stiles takes up the role with over 20 years of experience in corporate finance and also specialises in M&A and capital markets.
“I am passionate about helping my clients with life changing transactions,” said Ms Stiles.
“It is very rewarding to support business owners through what typically can be a demanding process and I aim to deliver the best possible outcome in a collaborative way.”
“It is a privilege to take on the leadership of Grant Thornton’s national corporate finance team.”
She takes over the role from financial advisory partner Paul Gooley, who held the role for the previous 10 years.
“I’m excited to see Holly take on this role to elevate the service line to a new level,” said Mr Gooley.
“She has proven to show the highest regard when it comes to servicing her clients and guiding them through extensive transactions for their businesses.”
“She is clearly passionate about working in this space and her leadership is positively welcomed into the financial advisory practice on a national level.”
A new office chair in South Australia was also appointed by Grant Thornton with private business tax and advisory partner David Mullins assigned to the role.
Based in Adelaide Mr Mullins has worked at Grant Thornton for 14 years, with clients across an array of industries including real estate and construction, professional services, manufacturing and technology.
Mr Mullins said he was excited by the additional responsibility and was keen to see further growth in the South Australian market.
“I’m happy to share my appointment as Office Chair in Adelaide at Grant Thornton,” he said.
“We are seeing some amazing opportunities for both local and international businesses in the SA market, albeit with some inflationary headwinds and global issues creating uncertainty.”
“In particular, the property market in Adelaide and South Australia has experienced a strong return coming out of COVID.”
The firm said Mr Mullins took over the position from audit partner Iain Kemp, who had held the role since 2016 and would continue to sit on Grant Thornton’s executive as national managing partner - community and office chairs.
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