Grant Thornton UK to hire 160 partners in two years
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Grant Thornton United Kingdom has announced a plan to recruit 160 new partners over the next two years. This move follows its transaction with private equity firm Cinven.
Grant Thornton previously ranked #34 in the OA500 2025, an objective index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing companies.
“2025 has been a transformative year for our firm, as we reimagined what the multi-disciplinary professional services partnership of the future should look like – combining equity ownership with external investment from Cinven to unlock unprecedented competitiveness,” said Malcolm Gomersall, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grant Thornton UK.
Expansion drive fueled by private equity investment
At Grant Thornton, partners are senior leaders who shape the firm’s future by driving strategy, influencing growth, and directly impacting clients with their innovative ideas. With a significant responsibility, partners make critical decisions, such as signing contracts, acting as company representatives, and formulating plans.
They are entrusted with developing marketing strategies and ensuring the overall profitability and revenue growth. Empowered to lead with purpose, they collaborate across service lines and are supported in their development through initiatives like the “Leading the Partnership” program, ensuring their growth aligns with the firm’s long-term success.
It can be recalled that Grant Thornton aggressively expanded its operations by bolstering its international capabilities through acquisitions in France, Spain, and Belgium, following its majority investment from private equity firm New Mountain Capital.
This strategic build-out is now being augmented with high-value specialist expertise, as seen in its latest move to acquire Stax, a commercial due diligence specialist serving nearly 70% of top United States-based private equity firms.
It is this outside capital that has helped the company to increase investments in talent and technology, which have formed the basis of this aggressive hiring phase.
To implement this strategy, the company is working more quickly on recruitment by ensuring internal and external recruitment is conducted with a specific focus, and it has already employed 40 partners this year.
The company has enlisted the services of Korn Ferry, Wilton, and Bain, leading executive search firms, to recruit the best talent in audit, tax, and advisory services. This is a systematic approach in which the conventional partnership approach is strategically redesigned to better compete in the long-term market.
New partner model and leadership pipeline strategy
A core aspect of this initiative is Grant Thornton’s break from tradition with a new partner model that offers a premium reward structure and development support.
“Our industry is changing at an unprecedented speed, and the evolution of our business model puts us in prime position to [capitalize] on these dynamics,” Gomersall said.
The model balances in-year and long-term incentive rewards, which typically unlock partner compensation at a 50% premium to market rates. This financial incentive is a key differentiator that attracts leaders who want to share in the firm’s future growth.
Besides recruiting partners, the company is also targeting its director-level talent through a combination of in-house promotion and outsourcing, thereby building a substantial pipeline of future partner roles.
This all-inclusive strategy aims to establish a sustainable leadership framework in line with the firm’s reimagined vision for a professional services partnership.
As Gomersall states, “We have an exceptionally ambitious growth plan and we know our strong brand, unique operating model and industry-leading quality will continue to drive our momentum over the years to come.”
