Grant Thornton UK announces several senior tax hires and promotions
Grant Thornton UK LLP has strengthened its tax advisory offering with a raft of new senior external appointments and internal promotions, including four new Partners and three new Directors.
Antoinette Quinlan joins the firm as Partner in its Innovation Tax team. Antoinette has over twenty years’ experience advising clients around Research & Development (R&D) tax incentives and government funding for innovation. She has experience working with organisations across a broad range of industries including the life sciences, manufacturing, food and beverage, energy and technology sectors. In her role at Grant Thornton, Antoinette will be focused on supporting large corporate and multinational businesses in accessing R&D tax incentives for their innovation programmes and assisting them with the development of frameworks to manage risk and ensure robust governance is in place to support their tax incentive eligibility.
Chris Macdonald also joins the firm as Partner to lead the firm’s Private Capital Tax team in London. Chris will be responsible for providing corporate tax advice to both private and private equity-owned businesses in the capital and continuing to grow the firm’s leading team of tax experts in London. After originally starting his career in corporate mergers and acquisitions tax, over the last eight years he has specialised in providing tax advice to private equity portfolio companies, helping them maximise value through the holding period and subsequent sale process.
Jack Newton, who joined the firm as a graduate in 2006, has been promoted to tax Partner in the Milton Keynes Office. Jack’s development at Grant Thornton has seen him become the lead on corporate buy side transaction tax in the central and midlands region, with over 12 years’ experience specialising in tax due diligence and structuring services. He has significant experience working with clients in the TMT, education and training, automotive and infrastructure space. Jack will be part of the national Transaction Tax team and will play a leading role in growing the firm’s regional team, focusing on building and enhancing his relationships with mid-sized to large corporates.
Colin Park, based in the firm’s Glasgow office, has also been promoted to Partner. Colin is a trusted advisor to owner-managed businesses and large corporate groups across Scotland and specialises in advising on tailored tax strategies that drive success. He specialises in tax structuring for transactions, shareholder tax planning, group reorganisations and facilitating overseas expansion, and his innovative approach helps businesses to navigate complexity in the market and seize opportunities. As Partner, Colin will be focused on growing the Scottish tax practice and working closely with privately owned businesses across Scotland to achieve their growth ambitions.
In addition to four new partners, the firm has also made several new Director promotions within its tax offering: Michelle Perry in Birmingham, Cristina Pavel in Glasgow and Michael Cooper in Southampton have all been promoted to Director.
Commenting on the new appointments and promotions in the firm’s senior tax team, Hazel Platt, Head of Tax, Grant Thornton UK LLP, said:
“We’re thrilled to welcome Antoinette, Chris, Jack and Colin to the firm’s Partner group and congratulate our three new Directors on their well-deserved promotions. The investment in our tax team’s senior leadership demonstrates the firm’s commitment to growing our already extensive practice and investing where needed to support our growth journey.
“We’re committed to both attracting new talent to the firm but also recognising the brilliant talent we already have within the team and investing in their careers as we look to grow. Five senior internal promotions demonstrate our commitment to supporting the fulfilling careers that people can achieve at the firm as we have individuals now joining the partnership who first started their careers with us as trainees.
“These significant investments in our tax team will strengthen our existing offering to clients and put us in a strong position for further growth, broadening the specialist support and advice that we can provide our varied and dynamic client base across the UK.”