Grant Thornton names Corporate Finance lead for Thames Valley
Business and financial advisor Grant Thornton has appointed Peter Jennings to lead its corporate finance team in the Thames Valley region. He takes up the role alongside his position as Head of Healthcare M&A.
Working as one team, Grant Thornton’s offices in Reading, Oxford and Southampton are home to more than 280 experts. The firm’s Thames Valley regional team delivers proactive, tailored, quality audit, tax and advisory solutions to business and their management teams across the region with excellent levels of client satisfaction.
Wendy Hart has led Grant Thornton’s corporate finance team in the Thames Valley for two decades, having become Corporate Finance Advisory Partner in 1999. As she prepares to leave the firm early in 2021, Grant Thornton has named her successor as Peter Jennings.
Commenting on the appointment, Keely Woodley, Head of Corporate Finance at Grant Thornton UK, said, “I look forward to working closely with Peter and the rest of the team as we continue to evolve our already 100 strong sector focused M&A team across the country… Peter’s predecessor, Wendy Hart, played a guiding role over the last three decades establishing the firm’s strong M&A presence in the Thames Valley region. I’d like to thank her and we wish her the very best.”
Jennings currently leads the firm’s successful private healthcare M&A team and has more than 15 years’ experience advising operators and investors in the market, including working with both social care and retail healthcare providers. According to a release from the firm, his healthcare expertise will complement and expand the firm’s leading local offering, which has a keen focus on the technology, business support services and industrials space. Working with the existing team, including Gareth Davies, Nigel Le Bas and Angela Haygarth, Jennings will be focused on building on the firm’s already well-established presence in the local area.
Woodley added, “As we continue to grow our national healthcare M&A presence, Peter’s expertise in this area will expand the scope of the established local team and build on the already fantastic work that the team delivers… We have seen the Thames Valley team go from strength to strength as they continue to deliver outstanding transactions support and advice to clients, particularly in the technology space, despite the challenging operating environment that has continued throughout this year.”
Earlier in November, Grant Thornton also strengthened its UK valuations and modelling practice with the appointment of Phil Gunter-Rees. He arrives from Big Four firm EY, where he was most recently a Director.