Advisory - Early Careers | Grant Thornton

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Working in advisory at Grant Thornton

Hear from our trainee, Maria, about why she chose a career in advisory, and what it's really like working as an Advisory Associate at Grant Thornton.

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Businesses often need specialist help. Which is when our advisory services step in. Our teams work with clients of all shapes and sizes, building strong relationships and understand their needs so that we can give robust, independent advice on the issues they’re facing and develop unique solutions to the challenges they have.

Advisory at Grant Thornton

Helping clients of all shapes and sizes, we support businesses who make a major contribution to the growth of the economy in the UK and beyond, to unlock sustainable growth and navigate complex risks and challenges. Our advisory practice is led by Keely Woodley and Giles Mullins, and is split into two core areas, allowing us to offer the best advise to our clients through our specialist teams.

Core Advisory
Transactions Advisory and Insolvency, Forensics and Restructuring

Advisory is a fast-growing area of financial services, so there’s lots of opportunity to specialise. Explore some of the different teams below.

Actuarial

Working with clients on the challenges they face, our teams use analytical skills to provide finance and risk management advice to clients. We consult extensively to the life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and pensions sectors as well as providing financial modelling and financial industries.

Business risk

With a focus on helping organisations manage risk, improve operational processes and realise strategic objectives, our business risk services team support national and international clients ranging from corporate to public services and not for profit.

Business consultancy

Our teams provide market-leading consulting and advisory services to large corporate and private equity clients, advising against a variety of backdrops, including corporate change, company transactions, distress or regulatory changes.

Corporate finance

Supporting clients through mergers, acquisitions and transaction services, making sure they perform due diligence and secure the finance they need.

Deals

Working with clients throughout the entire corporate lifecycle, from valuations through to restructuring and financial modelling, we support with any transaction or deal requirements.

Insolvency

We are the largest asset recovery practice in the UK. Our team focuses on recovering assets for clients ranging from large corporates through to individuals.

Financial services tax

Our team provide bespoke advice to clients on the UK and International tax laws and regulation. Providing advisory and compliance services to core sectors including asset management, retail and investment, insurance and all types of financial intermediaries.

Technology risk services

Our teams work with clients to assess the risks arising from business' use of technology, providing effective risk management and assurance to ensure business' can operate efficiently and securely.

Transaction advisory services

Every transaction is different. Whether a business is buying or selling, refinancing or raising money through the capital markets our teams support clients with conducting thorough due diligence on the fine detail and providing value-focused and pragmatic advice throughout the transaction.

Life as an advisory trainee

Our training programmes are designed to take you from either an apprentice or graduate, to a professionally qualified accountant, building your skills and experiences along the way.

Wherever you join us, you will get the opportunity to work on a wide variety of clients. As part of our advisory team you will:

ask questions and listen to clients to understand their needs
present information and recommendations in clear, reassuring ways
have lots of responsibility as you put together solutions for clients who are relying on the quality of our services.

We give our trainees real responsibility early in their career, so we need you to be ready and willing to take that on, taking ownership for interesting and challenging client work.

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Getting qualified

On our graduate and apprenticeship programmes, you’ll work towards the following qualifications.

You’ll usually spend your first two years getting a Certificate in Account, Finance and Business (CFAB) or Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualification (or Certified Actuarial Analyst (CAA) if specialising in actuarial) before moving on to one of these.

Offices in England and Wales - ACA (Associate Chartered Accountant)
Offices in Scotland - CA (Chartered Accountant)

Career progression

At the end of your programme, you'll become professionally qualified. And all kinds of opportunities will open up. If you have dedicated yourself through your training programme and want to drive your career forward, we’ll be there to advise and guide you.

We'll help you understand your interests and strengths, so you can get where you want to go. You can continue to progress in your team or experience life in a different area of our business with a secondment or permanent move. Or if you fancy experiencing life in a completely different country, you could work on a project with one of our global member firms.

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Learn more about our different entry routes, and which is the right option for you.

Not sure whether advisory is the right career path for you? Why not find out more about our audit and advisory teams so you can make the best decision for your future.

Learn more about Audit

Learn more about Tax

Curious about what it's like to work in advisory? Read stories from our trainees about their journeys into advisory, what they've learned so far, and their advice for you.