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Business Risk Services
Our Business Risk Services team deliver practical and pragmatic solutions that support clients in growing and protecting the inherent value of their businesses.
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Corporate Finance and Deal Advisory
We offer a dedicated team of experienced individuals with a focus on successfully executing transactions for corporates and financial institutions. We offer an integrated approach, with our corporate finance specialists working seamlessly with tax and other specialists to ensure that every angle is covered.
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Economic Advisory
Our all-island Economics Advisory team combines expertise in economics and business with a wealth of experience across the public and private sectors.
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Forensic Accounting
We have a different way of doing business by delivering real insight through a combination of technical rigour, commercial experience and intuitive judgment. We take pride in delivering responsive and tailored solutions to all our clients, capitalising on the wealth of experience housed within our Belfast and wider Forensics team
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People and Change Consulting
The Grant Thornton People & Change Consulting practice works with clients on these issues as well as on all aspects of how they attract, retain, engage develop, deploy and lead their people.
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Restructuring
We work with a wide variety of clients and stakeholders such as high street banks, private equity funds, directors, government agencies and creditors to implement solutions which provide the best possible outcomes.
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Technology Consulting
Motivating and assisting our clients to pursue, maintain and secure the benefits of digital solutions is at the core of our Digital Transformation teams' agenda and goals. We work with business leaders to deliver efficient digital strategies and operating models that provide new or enhanced capabilities.
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Corporate and International Tax
Northern Ireland businesses face further challenges as they operate in the only part of the UK that has a land border with a country offering a lower tax rate.
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Employer Solutions
Our team specialises in remuneration and incentive planning and works closely with employers, shareholders and employees to ensure that business strategies are aligned and goals achieved in the most tax efficient, cost-effective manner.
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Entrepreneur and Private Client Taxes
Our team of experienced advisors are on hand to guide you through any decision or transaction ranging from the establishment of new business ventures, to realising value on exit, to succession planning and providing for loved ones.
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Global Mobility Services
Grant Thornton Ireland offer a different approach to managing global mobility. We have brought together specialists from our tax, global payroll, people and change and financial accounting teams across Ireland and Northern Ireland, while drawing on the knowledge and insights of our global network of over 143 offices of mobility professionals to provide you with a holistic approach to managing global mobility.
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Outsourced Payroll
Our outsourced service provides valued service to over 150 separate PAYE schemes. These ranging from 1 to 1000 employees, working for micro, SME and global employers. The service is supported by the integrated network of tax and global mobility teams and the wider Grant Thornton network delivering a seamless service. Experienced staff deliver a personal service built around your business needs.
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Tax Disputes and Investigations
Our Tax Disputes and Investigation team is made up of tax experts and former HMRC investigators who have years of experience in dealing with a variety of tax investigations. Our expertise and insight can guide you through all interactions, keeping your cost at a minimum while allowing you to continue with the day to day running of your business.
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VAT and Indirect Taxes
At Grant Thornton (NI) LLP, our team helps Northern Ireland businesses manage their UK and global indirect tax risks which, as transactional taxes, can quickly become big liabilities.
Can NI take advantage of high-tech jobs coming our way?
18 Sep 2018NI Direct maintains a ‘Skills in demand’ page which currently indicates there is strong job demand in Northern Ireland for individuals with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) based skills.
That demand is fuelled by Northern Ireland’s growing reputation for creating successful companies that compete globally in the Information Communication and Technology (‘ICT’) sector, and which create highly skilled roles such as software and database developers. In addition, much of Invest NI’s success in attracting foreign direct investment (‘FDI’) has been with businesses that provide roles within ICT.
However, does the NI labour market have the necessary skills to fill the demand for those roles?
According to the ‘CBI migration report’, September 2017, 96% of firms surveyed believe that NI is facing a growing skills shortage. The shortage becomes even more alarming when considered in the context of Brexit and the uncertainty surrounding a hard Brexit/’no-deal’ scenario, and what it means for access to the European labour market and our ability to import the skills we need.
What does this mean for the ICT sector in Northern Ireland?
Unfortunately, as things stand, employers in this sector may struggle to fill roles in the short-term. A growing skills shortage indicates that the jobs being created are not being filled by local graduates, either as a result of degrees which are not aligned to the NI economic strategy or as a result of graduates leaving NI in favour of careers in Great Britain, ROI and further afield. Regardless of the specific cause, it indicates that there is an immediate need to understand the scale of the skills gap and what can be done to redress it.
One government funded scheme, ‘Bring IT to NI’, is in operation to help secondary school pupils debating a career in ICT, which may help in the medium to long term but does nothing for the immediate term gap. An interesting concept which is appearing globally is that of ‘developer boot camps’. These promise to take a student from zero coding experience to an employable level through a 3-6 month intensive course, essentially fast-tracking the route to a developer role.
Employers in the South, for example, PayPal, appear to be actively engaging with boot camp providers, helping to align course content to what they need from new employees. This gives an indication that employers are valuing applicant experience and demonstrable skills alongside degrees, opening the door to those who do not have a computing related academic background, such as a degree in computer science.
Could software developer boot camps be a possible solution to address the current skills gap and alleviate the concerns of employers who are currently expecting this gap to grow? Is there a role that a local government could provide in supporting those who might want to undertake such a course?
If nothing else, it’s food for thought.