Matthew Pannell joins Grant Thornton to develop UK-US tax offering

10 December 2021 Consultancy.uk

Business and financial advisory brand Grant Thornton has added Matthew Pannell to its UK wing. As a Director, Pannell will now help Grant Thornton develop its existing US-UK private client tax advisory and compliance team, in London.  

Katy Bond, Tax Partner at Grant Thornton UK, said of the news, “We’re thrilled to welcome Matthew to lead and develop our offering. Under his leadership the team will pursue an advisory focused approach to tackle the complex and unique problems faced by the firm’s US connected clients.”

“They will work collaboratively with clients to understand their financial and lifestyle needs, taking a proactive, relationship-first approach to help clients achieve their goals.”

Matthew Pannell, Director, Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton is presently seeing a significant increase in demand for US tax advice in London. The firm’s clients are requiring such services more and more, due to tax reform, and the need to have local advisors on the ground in London to support their US connections. Arriving as a Director, Matthew Pannell will support the growth of the existing transatlantic private client tax offering.

Qualified in both the US and UK, Pannell specialises in providing joined up cross border tax advice to wealthy private individuals, their businesses, and their families. His previous work has seen him cover a broad range of issues impacting UK resident non-domiciled Americans, as well as non-Americans with a US footprint. In particular, he has advised transatlantic entrepreneurs and their businesses on all stages of the entrepreneurial cycle.

Pannell noted, “Grant Thornton has a strong and talented team operating in the US Private Client space that I have long admired. Together with the firm’s international reach and top tier reputation for serving mid-market businesses, the firm has established an excellent foundation upon which to further develop a market leading offering for US connected clients in the UK.  I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to achieve this.”

Over the last 14 years, Pannell worked for Frank Hirth – a firm which has worked with US and UK private clients for over 45 years, guiding them through complex regulations and tax planning issues that apply across borders.

Earlier in 2021, the firm was purchased by EY – with its 195 employees and 4,000 clients transferring across to the Big Four firm. Since then the firm had rebranded as EY Frank Hirth, and joined the EY Private Tax team in the UK.