I grew up in Tauranga, New Zealand: lake days, beach trips, family barbecues, the full Kiwi cliché. That said, I've had the travel bug since I was young, mostly thanks to my parents dragging us around the world. After a Bachelor of Commerce in Wellington, majoring in accounting and management, I joined a corporate tax team and built my technical skills faster than I'd expected.
Two years in, the travel bug won out. I took three months on the road before landing in London.
Choosing Transactions Tax at Grant Thornton
My route in was a little different from the usual process and had nothing to do with why I moved to London in the first place. Once I was settled, I was introduced to James Moore, head of the Transactions Tax team, through a mutual contact. An informal chat about my background and career led to a technical interview, held at 11pm New Zealand time given the distance. Somehow the interviewers were more awake than I was.
What struck me was that the team wanted to understand what drove me as much as they wanted to test my technical knowledge. That, combined with what I'd heard about the team itself, made the decision easy.
At the time, Transactions Tax was a close-knit team of around 40 people and growing. I'd also just learned about Cinven's majority investment in the firm, the first of its kind for a professional services firm in the UK. Joining a team on the cusp of accelerated growth, with that scale of backing, was genuinely exciting.
A steep learning curve, twice over
I joined Grant Thornton as an assistant in September 2025. It meant two changes at once: moving from tax compliance into fast-paced transactions work and moving from a New Zealand tax background into UK tax.
It was a big adjustment at first. But with a team that was generous with their time and happy to coach, I found my footing quicker than I'd expected. Six months in, I was promoted to assistant manager.
Building expertise on live deals
The projects that stand out most are sell-side tax due diligences. They tend to run over a longer period than other engagements, which means you build a genuinely deep understanding of a business: its tax profile, its commercial drivers, the market it sits in. That depth of insight, beyond the tax issues themselves, is what I find most rewarding.
Transactions work moves quickly. Juggling multiple projects against competing deadlines can feel overwhelming at first, but the right processes, and the right team around you, make it manageable.
Support when it matters
The support I've had from colleagues above me has made the biggest difference, particularly given I joined with no UK tax background. They've taken the time to understand what I have on and never hesitated to coach me through it.
During my busiest period so far, juggling several large, fast-moving projects, I learned that being upfront about workload beats struggling through it alone. Talking to senior colleagues about competing deadlines meant we could agree extended timeframes or bring in extra support where it was needed.
A team that makes time for each other
No two weeks look the same. At any point you might be working across different transactions, industries and tax issues, which keeps things interesting. What I value most is how collaborative the team is; whoever you're working with, someone is always willing to help.
On one recent sell-side deal, working to a tight deadline, what stood out was how much time people made for each other despite their own workloads. It's that combination of challenging work and genuinely supportive colleagues that makes the team a good place to be.
Being promoted to assistant manager so soon after joining meant a lot. Moving into transactions can leave you feeling out of your depth at first, so having that recognised made me feel like I belonged.
Outside work, I'm still chasing the travel bug: most weekends go on exploring somewhere new in the UK or Europe, and I'm holding out for a work trip that finally gets me back to a beach that isn't in England. Closer to home, I'm part of the team's social committee, helping organise events. It's a good reminder that while the work is demanding, the people matter just as much.
Advice for anyone considering the move
The team continues to grow, taking on more varied and complex work, which means more opportunities to learn from people who've been here a while and people just joining. It's exciting to be part of that growth while the culture that drew me here in the first place stays intact.
My advice: you'll be given responsibility early. It can feel like a lot, but take it. You'll also have real support around you; people here are approachable and invested in your development, whatever your grade. If you want to accelerate your development while working with clients and colleagues across the firm, this is a good place to do it.
Ready to build something similar? Harrison went from newly qualified to assistant manager in six months, with a team that backed him early. If that's the kind of support you're looking for in your next move, explore our current opportunities.