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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.
As a company grows, from start-up, through initial stages of growth, and hopefully to rapid growth, the role of the leader must also evolve. This is a big ask, and requires a conscious effort on the part of the leader to ask themselves, ‘who does the business need me to be right now’, and then adapt. If a leader has a fixed stance, they could be very successful in one particular phase of growth, and completely unsuitable in another.
Let’s take a typical start-up. The founder has an idea for a business and may work alone initially, doing everything required to get the business off the ground. They are the face of the company and they work every hour available. They are the company. It’s very personal. They look after all aspects of this newborn entity, and they may dream about longer-term growth, but their focus is day-to-day survival.
Then, with traction, the business starts to grow, and the founder has the luxury of hiring experts to support them. The founder has to shift to leading others and assume the role of delegator and direction setter. There is a danger of holding the business back at this stage if the leader still involves themselves in every decision and continues to have a tight grip of control. Others will want autonomy to do the job they have been hired to do. With success to date, the leader’s gaze can start to shift to longer-term growth, leaving the day-to-day to the team.
With continued success, and probably a few set-backs along the way, the business takes off, and the company experiences more rapid growth. The leader then has to build a team, coach others, plan for the future, and communicate to the growing workforce to make sure everyone is aligned. Trusting the team is essential. The leader will no longer be intimately involved in all areas of the business, and that’s the way it should be. The leader must shift their perspective back to looking at the entire business as a whole, and their outlook should be longer-term. To lead growth, they must spend their time communicating the vision, focus on values, developing strategy, and focus on culture.
You can see why this is a big ask for one individual leader; to successfully play different roles at different stages, shift their perspective, actions and thinking, and stay one step ahead of the phase of growth. Some leaders can’t make the shifts required, and that’s okay as long as they have the self-awareness to know this and then move on when the time comes. Serial entrepreneurs love the thrill of the start-up, and when the business is stable and needs managements structures, they want out and move on to the next startup. But if a leader wants to be at the helm and see their vision realised, they must evolve. As Darwin said, it is not the strongest nor the most intelligent that survives, but those most adaptable to change.