Grant Thornton UK sets out plans to build the profession's leading early careers programme
Leading business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK has announced plans to overhaul its Associate programme, with the ambition of becoming the early careers destination of choice across the UK accountancy and professional services sector. The new programme, designed for the firm's September 2027 intake, will span audit, tax and advisory and is built around a commitment to market-leading pay, a digitally focused curriculum and a clear pathway to partnership.
The announcement comes as Grant Thornton UK enters a significant period of growth. Following its landmark investment from private equity firm Cinven, which valued the firm at up to £1.5bn and made it the largest UK professional services business to take external equity investment, the firm has set out plans to recruit 160 new partners over the next two years. The redesigned Associate programme represents the other end of that ambition: building the partner pipeline of 2040 and beyond from the ground up.
Abigail Fisher, Chief People Officer at Grant Thornton UK, said:
“Our ambition to lead the market on starting pay is a very deliberate signal about who we are and where we’re going. It tells the very best candidates that we value their potential from day one, it tells our clients that we are investing in the future capability of our firm, and it tells the market that Grant Thornton is serious about being a long‑term leader in the profession. This redesign is about much more than attraction it’s about building a genuine pipeline to partnership and making sure today’s associates can become tomorrow’s leaders.”
The programme is being designed around five core ambitions: to be the programme of choice for the very best students comparing their options; to give Grant Thornton the highest profile in the graduate and school leaver market; to deliver a genuinely digitally focused training experience built for the profession's future rather than its past; to offer the highest starting salaries in the sector; and to develop people who are genuinely capable of reaching partnership.
Grant Thornton UK currently takes in more graduates and school leavers through Audit than any other route. The new programme extends that investment across Tax and Advisory too, reflecting the firm's view that future partners should be able to grow across the full breadth of what the business does. The specific structure, salary levels, digital curriculum and formal launch timeline are being finalised and will be announced in the coming months.
Becky Eagle, Audit Partner, played a key role in developing the new programme. She added:
“Students entering professional services today are ambitious, digitally fluent and highly selective. They’re looking for more than a qualification. They want a clear sense of progression, purpose and pace. This is the right moment for us to reset what an early careers programme can and should look like and to give people the confidence that choosing Grant Thornton is a decision that will still be paying off 15 or 20 years into their career.”
The announcement reflects a broader shift in how Grant Thornton UK is approaching its growth. The firm has already made 32 equity partner appointments this year towards its goal of 160 by the end of 2027. The Associate programme redesign is intended to ensure that trajectory is matched by investment at the earliest stage of a career.