Based out of Liverpool and Manchester, accountancy firm Grant Thornton is announcing new hires and promotions in its region corporate finance team

Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has announced a number of its new hires and promotions in its Liverpool and Manchester-based corporate finance team.

The firm, which operates from the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool, is recruiting three “up-and-coming” young dealmakers, while recognising the development of three of its existing team.

Alex Parry joins the team as an assistant manager from PwC, where she spent more than five years after graduating from the University of Nottingham with a first-class honours degree in accountancy.

A second external hire is Humza Khan; an experienced mid-market deal originator with particular expertise in private equity and M&A activity. He has an MBA in corporate finance, venture capital and private equity from Alliance Manchester Business School and has previously worked for RSM and YFM.

Also joining the North West corporate finance team is manager Rachael Taplin who is shifting her focus within the firm. She started at Grant Thornton in 2018 and has been working in audit, where she has risen quickly through the ranks with two promotions in successive years.

Grant Thornton has also promoted three current members of the deals team. Cariad Mudford has been promoted to associate director. She has played a key role in several high-profile deals. These include the sale of Apple Aviation to US private equity backed STS Aviation Group.

Alex Hirst and Amy Huddleston have both been promoted to manager. Alex joined Grant Thornton as a graduate in 2015 and worked in audit for the firm in the Midlands until 2018, when he moved into the North West CF advisory team.

Amy has been with the firm since graduating from the University of Nottingham with first-class honours in economics and philosophy in 2016. She has completed placements in transactional services, restructuring, and M&A; before joining the deals team permanently last September.

The new hires take the team’s headcount to 10 and also see it become one of the most gender-diverse M&A advisory line-ups in the North West market, at 40% female.

Pete Terry, partner and head of corporate finance for Grant Thornton in the North West, said: “As we head into the summer months, activity in the North West deals market is undoubtedly hotting up, particularly in the mid-market.

“There is a wall of private equity capital looking for a home, and a raft of businesses ready to kick on to the next phase of their growth trajectory, as we enter what we all hope are the final months of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Our deals team is entering a new era itself to meet this demand, as we bring in fresh new faces and invest in the development of our established talent.”