Redefining professional services: Grant Thornton UK named British Business Awards 2026 finalist
Transformation is everywhere in business rhetoric. Delivering it at pace, at scale and in ways clients can actually feel is far rarer.
That is why Grant Thornton UK has been named a finalist for Professional Services Company of the Year at the British Business Awards 2026. The shortlist recognises a fundamental shift in how the firm is reengineering professional services for a digital first economy – challenging convention, investing boldly and putting client experience at the heart of how advice is delivered.
The British Business Awards, taking place on 30 April 2026 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, will bring together more than 1,500 business leaders and celebrate organisations redefining performance, innovation, culture and economic impact. More than 400 companies entered this year’s programme.
The recognition reflects Grant Thornton’s ‘Alternatively’ approach: rejecting the trade-offs clients have long been asked to accept, and rebuilding the profession around clarity, pace and human judgement – supported by technology, not obscured by it.
For today’s organisations, the challenge is clear: balancing governance with agility, innovation with compliance and investment with pressure on margins. Grant Thornton UK’s transformation is designed to meet these realities head‑on. A £500 million investment in client experience is already reshaping how insight is delivered and how quickly clients can act on it.
Parallel to this, the firm is undertaking one of the UK’s most ambitious leadership expansions, with a plan to recruit 160 new partners in two years, with 26 equity partners already appointed in the first quarter of 2026.
A redesigned partner reward model underpins this shift, rewarding strategic contribution and long‑term value creation. Enhanced onboarding, development programmes and digital‑mindset training are equipping leaders with the tools to confront the commercial trade‑offs clients now navigate daily.
Recent Strategic Leadership Team appointments – including David Gartside as Chief Digital Officer, Frederik Vinten as Chief Commercial Officer, and Abigail Fisher as Chief People Officer – signal further momentum in the firm’s drive to strengthen its market position.
Malcolm Gomersall, CEO of Grant Thornton UK, said:
“Being part of this shortlist matters to us because it reflects the bold choices we’ve made – investing at scale, modernising quickly and rebuilding the client experience around what organisations genuinely need today. It validates the pace and purpose with which our people are reshaping how a modern professional services firm should operate.”
This year’s shortlisted companies also join the inaugural British Business Leaders List, acknowledging organisations setting the standard for modern enterprise and contributing meaningfully to the UK’s economic future. The awards will once again raise funds for UK homelessness charity Social Bite, with a collective target of more than £1 million across the associated events.
Full details of the programme and finalists are available at www.britishbusinessawards.co.uk.