PARTNER PROFITS have slumped at Grant Thornton in 2015/16.
Revenues have climbed 2.5% to £534m at the top six firm for the y/e 30 June 2016, but distributable profits per partner have dropped to £344,000 from £398,000. Profit before tax was £72m, from £82m a year earlier.
The firm said it had been continuing to invest towards its ‘Vision 2020’ strategy of contributing towards a ‘vibrant’ and ‘sustainable’ economy. This involved it developing its analytics capabilities; improving its work along trade routes; focusing on strategic accounts; and building development teams.
Sacha Romanovitch, CEO of Grant Thornton, said: “Our programme of work leads UK thinking and solutions in key areas which include: the first of our city inquiries, in Sheffield; the first of our thematic inquiries on housing in London and our faces of a vibrant economy launch, amongst others.”
“Next year we will be building on this platform via our Vibrant Economy Commission, city inquiries in key regions and in-depth inquiries into key critical economic themes.”
Programmes to support a vibrant UK economy
Romanovitch continued: “Our ongoing investment in the audit quality programme continues with our new global audit software and methodology due in 2017. This will streamline our approach, make a much clearer link between our testing and International Auditing Standards.”
People and Enterprise
The firm appointed 30 new partners this year, 19 of which were internally promoted and have invested over £17m in people, promotions, and increases. Additionally, voluntary employee turnover was reduced to 18%, and the Alumni network was relaunched.
She added: “Sharing responsibility is now fully integrated into our refreshed code of conduct and quality, ethics and excellence agenda. A key element of this is how self-correcting systems, where key metrics on compliance are shared openly throughout the firm to drive improvement.”
In addition to salaries and bonuses, £2m has been added to the shared reward pool which runs to June 2018.
Outlook for 2017 and beyond
Sacha Romanovitch concluded: “What seemed important pre-Brexit now seems critical in a post Brexit world. Undoubtedly there are uncertainties that will be reflected in businesses’ investment and growth plans. Our focus will be around the following priority areas; working on the vibrant economy agenda, building capabilities, developing client experience, embedding shared enterprise, and streamlining the business model for quality and excellence in line with our Vision 2020 plans.
The news comes as a new head of forensics and a tax partner have been appointed at the firm.