Interview: Grant Thornton CEO Scott Barnes

Interview: Grant Thornton CEO Scott Barnes

Reinvesting might have eaten into partner distributions, but Grant Thornton is ready to push towards the £500m barrier over the next two years

YOU COULD PROBABLY FORGIVE Grant Thornton CEO Scott Barnes for being bullish about the firm’s latest double-digit growth.

But with profits reinvested rather than doled out to partners, wobbly economic conditions and a tough internal target of £500m in revenues by 2014/15, he gives the air of someone watching over a work in progress rather than the finished product.

With revenues up 10% to £417m, hitting £500m in two years will be some push.

“I still think it’s a reasonable target,” says Barnes. “It’s about having a sense of ambition, wanting to grow. To have a sustainable business you to set reasonable numbers.”

The firm’s recovery and reorganisation unit has outperformed the rest of the business – growing 28% in 2011/12 – and boosting the advisory division’s 22% growth to £205.2m. Corporate finance, also within advisory, grew 6%.

But the restructuring unit hasn’t found it all plain sailing. “Plain vanilla” insolvency work such as administrations haven’t picked up. But GT has benefited in the unit’s other disciplines, such as working on large, complex liquidations like that of Stanford. Its IVA division, which recently acquired RSM Tenon’s division, has also grown.

While these parts of the business should continue to perform well, Barnes warns that other insolvency providers, banking on corporate insolvencies to pick up, will be disappointed.

With interest rates remaining low, Barnes expects insolvencies to “go backwards” for the first half of the year.

“Those that haven’t got a broader offering will suffer,” he says.

The pain of integrating RSM Robson Rhodes into the business has now faded. For Barnes, it’s  about the benefits.

Strong Robson Rhodes offerings in financial services and the public sector have been built on, he says, and will perform strongly.

Growth for the next two years won’t all be down to insolvency, he adds. Winning a tranche of Audit Commission audits will boost the latest year’s figures, while any improvement in the economy will see more transactions – and more tax advice required.

Another “bulk deal” a la Robson Rhodes is now “unlikely”, says Barnes, although smaller bolt-ons might help supplement in higher-growth areas.

“I think we can hit ‘500′ organically by investing in areas where we have strength,” he says.

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource