Grant Thornton promotes Alistair Wardell and Trefor Griffith
Grant Thornton has appointed Partner Alistair Wardell as Head of Restructuring across the South, and Partner Trefor Griffith to lead the Corporate Finance Advisory Team for the South West and Wales.
Grant Thornton, a global professional services firm specialising in assurance, tax and advisory, has made two senior appointments in the South West of England and Wales. The firm, which employs over 38,500 people across 120 countries, saw distributable profits per partner drop to £344,000 from £398,000 at the end of 2016, despite making a profit before tax of £72 million. Grant Thornton said at the time it planned to continuing to combat this by continuing to invest in its ‘Vision 2020’ strategy of contributing towards a ‘vibrant’ and ‘sustainable’ economy, involving the development of its analytics capabilities, focusing on strategic accounts, and building development teams, along with bolstering key regional presences.
As part of this effort, the consultancy has confirmed the promotion of two senior roles in the South/South West and Wales region. Alistair Wardell, who currently heads up the consumer industry group for the firm nationally, will become the new Head of Restructuring for the South West, Reading, Oxford, Southampton and Wales, while Trefor Griffith will take up a Partnership in order to lead Grant Thornton’s Corporate Finance Advisory Team in England’s South West, and Wales.
Having been based in Grant Thornton’s London office since 2009 with a focus on the food and beverage sector, Griffith has led a number of notable deals in the region over the last few years, including the investment in BVG Airflo by BGF, the acquisition of Thompson and Morgan by BVG, the sale of AerFin to Carval and the recent sale of Westbridge Food Group to CP Foods. He will aim to help the firm grow further in the region.
Tim Lincoln, practice leader at Grant Thornton South West, said of the firm’s new Partner, "Trefor brings with him strong experience from both a national perspective and regionally that will prove invaluable to us and our clients. He will be a real asset to our team and I’m confident that he will help to further bolster our presence in the regions."
Griffith himself commented, "Our focus on advising dynamic organisations is a perfect fit with a significant number of businesses in the region and I am looking forward to working with more of them in the coming months and years."
Alistair Wardell meanwhile brings more than more than 20 years' experience to the role of Head of Restructuring across the South, having most recently worked as practice leader in Grant Thornton's Cardiff office.
An Insolvency Practitioner certified by the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales, Wardell specialises in recovery and reorganisation, helping company directors identify the key factors that will make their business more profitable and the potential barriers to their success. Wardell then works with the company to build and execute a plan which optimises the performance of their business.
Commenting on Wardell’s ascension, Tim Lincoln said, "We work with some of the region's most dynamic, fast growing businesses, and I'm confident that Alistair bring with him the strong market experience that we need to continue our success in supporting our clients on their growth journeys. As enthusiastic as he is pragmatic, Alistair's positive approach is welcomed by directors who are often frustrated by their inability to find a way out of their commercial difficulties. One of his key skills is his ability to get the different stakeholders of a business refocused on the company itself and to base their decisions on a balanced set of information and forecasts."