Grant Thornton said it was ‘setting a new benchmark for ambition in the professional services market with plans to recruit 160 new partners over the next two years, which will reshape the future of its business’.

With 280 partners currently and 40 partner appointments already made this year, the firm is accelerating recruitment through a combination of internal promotions and targeted external hiring.

To attract the best talent across audit, tax and advisory, Grant Thornton has appointed executive search firms Korn Ferry and Wilton & Bain, and is also working with an advisory firm to strengthen its partner selection process using data-driven performance insights.

The announcement comes just over six months since the firm completed its private equity deal with Cinven. Unusually, under the new ownership, Grant Thornton retained the partnership model to a degree, but ‘with a new layer of capital and governance that has already begun to reshape how we operate’, Malcolm Gomersall, CEO of Grant Thornton said.

Grant Thornton UK’s new partner model breaks with tradition in the sector, offering a balance of in-year and long-term incentive reward. Typically, this unlocks partner reward with a 50% premium to market rate, which is then backed up by new tailored onboarding and development programmes. ‘It’s a dynamic, ambitious environment designed for leaders who want to make a real impact and share in the firm’s future growth,’ the firm stressed.

When compared with firms at a comparable size financially, Grant Thornton has quite a tight partnership group, with far fewer partners than the likes of S&W (formerly part of Evelyn Partners) and RSM. 

Alongside its investment in new partners, Grant Thornton is also focusing on its director level talent, with a mixture of internal promotions and external hires planned to ensure a significant long-term pipeline of new talent to come through to partnership.

Gomersall said: ‘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.

‘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.

Our industry is changing at an unprecedented speed and the evolution of our business model puts us in prime position to capitalise on these dynamics. Joining our partnership means joining something genuinely unique and special, so we’re excited to share this opportunity with many more people whose values and ambitions are aligned with ours.’

The move comes as there is a marked talent shortage in the accountancy sector, with tough competition across firms to attract new partners and also qualified staff, while there is also a degree of uncertainty due to concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on entry level roles. So far, this has not hit the number of trainees being recruited across the Top 75 Firms, with the latest trainee survey showing a 6% increase in trainee numbers hired over 2024-25, totalling 23,691, up from 22,284 the previous year

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