Matthew Turner, Partner, Grant Thornton Corporate Finance

Career overview

Having gone through school graduating with a degree in aeronautical engineering from Imperial College with a clear desire for a career in engineering design I started to work in this field and left within 6 months!

I joined Grant Thornton in 1987 and went through the ACA Qualification programme, but before completing the qualification i was seeking out, and being encouraged to do non-audit, commerical type of advisory work.  This included corporate transaction work, working with the Serious Fraud Office on the prosecution of a £12m white collar fraud and a secondment to the local health authority.

I qualified as an ACA in 1990 and by this time I had made my first office transfer in the Corporate Finance Team, with a focus on mid-market private company sales and disposals together with raising finance for acquisitions and other business development needs of clients.

Following many deals and a three office merger to one site I took up the challenge in 1997 to move to the Corporate Finance Team in London and play my part in its development.  This exposed me to Grant Thornton's International attributes.

Making Partner in 2000 and considering the needs of the Firm's Corporate Finance Business I transferred to the growth office of Milton Keynes in 2001 where I continue as a Corporate Finance Partner today.

Deal examples

Advising on a three way European joint venture between my client, a UK company dominant in its market sector, a smaller Spanish company in the same sector and an American corporation dominant in its markets (exlcuding Europe) and having leading gentics capability.  As with any joint venture the key issues are:  How will the venture work?  What happens if it does not go to plan? Value inputs and outputs for the joint venture partners and financing of the joint venture.

Since 1996 I have worked as the Corporate Finance advisor to Sport England on projects such as Wembley national Stadium and the the Commenwealth Games Stadium (now home to Manchester City Football Club).

The draws of Grant Thornton & Corporate Finance

The people who work for and with Grant Thornton are people who's company I enjoy.

Grant Thornton has also allowed me to explore opportunities to find my niche and has encouraged and supported me to go beyond natural comfort zones.

Corporate Finance provides a variety of work unmatched elsewhere which i find stimulating.  The successes and failures that arise result in personal high and lows but I find this extremely stimulating.

Working in small teams with Senior Corporate Operators is both rewarding when results are achieved and seeing how such people perform is an opportunity for persnoal development in its own right.

Grant Thornton is a very large firm but it is excellent that you can maintian your own individuality.

A typical day at Grant Thornton

There is no typical day at work, that's another reason why I love this job.

A week would consist of 50% time in the office, 40% at clients', financiers' or lawyers' offices working on transactions and 10% working from home.

Within a week there are usually two marketing events which range from evening dinners to an afternoon at the races.

There are early starts and late finishes to some days but with discipline, the work life balance can be achieved.

Anything else?

If you are numerate, commercial, flexible, creative, personable, like to trade and and can live with regular highs and lows this could be the career for you.

David Cockburn, Director, Grant Thornton Corporate Finance

Career overview

I joined Grant Thornton in 2005, after a number of years in a big 4 firm.  Prior to joining Grant Thornton my career followed a well trodden path.  I started with an audit training contract and transferred overseas shortly after qualifying, then I returned to Scotland as a manager.  

During my time overseas, I began to specialise in transactional work.  I now have been involved in over 80 transactions across a range of sectors, sizes and borders, from chicken farms in the bush to beer in Greece to photonics in Scotland.

I specialise in lead advisory, where my responsibility is to run the Scottish business of Grant Thornton Corporate Finance.  I spend all my time advising boards and shareholders on acquisitions and disposals, funding, strategy and business planning, and management buy outs.

The draws of Grant Thornton & Corporate Finance

Joining Grant Thornton was about three things for me.  Firstly, wanting to be a part of a dynamic, growing business - not words often associated with the accountancy profession; secondly, having chosen to work where I do, to have the best opportunity to work with the best private companies; and thirdly, to have the freedom, flexibility and support to develop my career in the right direction.

Has expectation lived up to reality? No, it's better than that.  I really feel I am surrounded by people who want to help their clients, not force a product down their throats.  I'm also surrounded by people who want to support me by sharing their relationships and opportunities.  Siege and silo mentality has disappeared - what a breath of fresh air.  Grant Thornton Corporate Finance is also a rapidly growing business and that allows much greater scope for entrepreneurial and longer term business decisions to be taken.  

A typical week at Grant Thornton

There is never a normal week in Corporate Finance - that's a big attraction for me.  My clients expect me to pull in the right people to deliver the transaction and who share the same passion to want to help.  

My team is big enough to have a tremendous variety of work, but small enough to know each other really well. Last week we negotiated and agreed the first of many transactions for a foreign owned corporate client of mine.  We've been working with them for a year now and they are delighted - it's on to the next one.  We are helping shareholders of a business realise value for all their hard work; we are working on a number of sustainability/renewables projects; we successfully secured economic development funding for a photonics cluster; we're working with a business that wants to be 10 times the size within three years, and we're working with a management team which will acquire the business they currently run through an MBO.  

That's a lot of variety for a week's work. Oh, and then there was the James Bond premier…..it's not all work.

I have completed a number of transactions in 18 months which has been extremely rewarding. The variety of work is something that really appeals to me - no two days are the same. Grant Thornton differentiates itself because it really does specialise in advising mid-market businesses; the advantages of working in this market is that you meet lots of interesting characters and get completely involved with the businesses that you work with.  The added benefit is that once the assignment is completed, you can start on a completely different project, which is refreshing and an opportunity you generally don't get in other jobs.
 
There are lots of highs and lows in lead advisory as well as early starts and late finishes; it can be a bit of a rollercoaster. That said, the camaraderie and support from the team helps combat some of the more tense moments and makes the lows much more bearable!