SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE LIVING IN AMERICA - Grant Thornton

Alumination
The newsletter for former partners of Grant Thornton
Spring/Summer 2009
SINCE YOU’VE
BEEN GONE
DEVELOPMENTS TO OUR CLIENT SERVICE Page 4
A vision for
Grant Thornton
BY SCOTT BARNES Page 6
LIVING IN
AMERICA
PATRICK BROOKE MEETS
JOHN TWIGG Page 10
THE NEW BRAND Page 9 | PARTNER SUPPORT UNIT Page 13 | BUPA MEDICAL COVER FOR YOU Page 14
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welc
A warm
Since you’ve been gone
Looking at our recent developments, home and abroad Page 4
My vision for Grant Thornton
CEO Scott Barnes shares his thoughts on the firm’s future Page 6
From partner to Lord Mayor
Ian Luder takes his turn as London’s Lord Mayor Page 8
Unwrapping Grant Thornton
A new brand to suit all member firms Page 9
Living in America
We catch up with retired partner, John Twigg Page 10
Partner Support Unit
The team announces new benefits to former partners Page 13
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ome
Welcome to this edition of Alumination,
the first in a regular series of newsletters
designed to keep former partners in touch
with the progress of the firm.
Former partners are a
group that has been
neglected in terms of
communication in the
recent past but, as you will
read, we now intend to
correct this and to build on
this unique community.
In this first edition, Scott Barnes, our new
CEO, sets out his vision for the firm.
We’ve highlighted some of the firm’s
successes and developments and we hear
what life is like for a well known former partner
now living in the US. We’re also proud to
feature a Grant Thornton partner who has
become Lord Mayor of the City of London.
We profile individuals where it might be helpful
to put faces to names and our Partner Support
Unit announces some new deals on offer.
In this first edition we have tried to cover a
variety of topics that we hope you find useful,
but we would very much appreciate your
views on what you would like to see in future
newsletters and our wider alumni programme.
We would also very much value your material
for this newsletter; more of this a little later on.
Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy ‘Alumination’!
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Since you’ve
been gone...
Just a few developments to our client service
Recent achievements
• Accountant of the Year at the ninth
annual Growth Company Awards
• A Top 100 Graduate Employer –
The Times 2009
• Best Tax Team in a Large Firm,
LexisNexis Awards 2009 – for the
fourth consecutive year
• Best Adviser, Local Improvement
Finance Trust (LIFT) Awards 2008
• Automotive Services Solutions
Company, Institute of Transport
Management 2008, for offering the
highest level of customer service
• Team of the Year for London and
the south-east at Business in the
Community (BITC) Community
Impact Awards
• Business Service Award,
First Women Awards 2008
– Sacha Romanovitch
• Best Accountant in
Practice Award 2008,
South West ICAEW
– Ian Gorham
• Tax Lecturer of the Year,
LexisNexis Awards 2008
– Francesca Lagerberg
4 Alumination

Internationally Speaking
• $2 billion CHUM Hospital development in Montreal
• In Russia, our PPP/PFI team has seconded experts to advise on a new oncology
research hub in Nizhny Novgorod
• We are also providing advisory services to Indian Railways for the New Delhi
railway station redevelopment programme
• And our China Group and South Asia Group have established a growing presence
in their respective regions: we have been involved in all but two of Indian
companies’ listings in the UK
• Member firms of Grant Thornton International experienced significant expansion
in BRIC economies via organic growth and acquisition, for example, the member
firm in Brazil experienced 65% organic growth in 2007
• Mergers in Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and the UK have strengthened the
global organisation further in 2007
Strengthening our
Public Sector position
Our Government Infrastructure
Advisory team has also been leading the
way among the industry’s top rated
financial advisers. It ranks first place in
a number of league tables.
We have just won a six-year
framework with the National
Audit Office on top of already being the
leading provider to the National Audit
Commission, Audit Scotland and the
Wales Audit Office.
Our major clients include Manchester
City Council, Bristol City Council,
a number of London Boroughs
and a range of significant healthcare
trusts, all of which are large and
complex organisations.
Closer to home
• New and upgraded
offices in Bristol, Leeds, Manchester
and Southampton
• Francesca Lagerberg has become our
new Head of Tax
• Our Recovery and Reorganisation team
continued its track record of growth as
demand for our services began to grow on
the back of the economic downturn
• Our specialist Forensic and Investigation
team has conducted investigations and
provided expert evidence in connection with
very large, high profile international audit
negligence assignments
• We are the third largest
auditor of the UK’s top 2,500
privately held companies
• We are the fourth largest
auditor of UK publicly traded companies
• In our non-audit services, we work with
one in six of the FTSE 100
• In 2007/08, Grant Thornton was the
number one M&A adviser in the
middle-market for deals up to £50 million
• Excluding the real estate sector, we have
been involved in every IPO involving an
Indian company on AIM
Our sector-focused team goes
from strength to strength
Deep industry expertise – that’s
exactly what the Not for Profit group
led by Carol Rudge, have. Exceptional
sector specialism. In fact, the team
helped secure Grant Thornton’s
prestigious Auditor of the Year
(outside the Big 4) prize at this year’s
FDs Excellence Awards, due to the
great things NFP FDs were saying
about their sector capability.
And it’s not just awards being won.
It’s clients too. The recent publication of
the CaritasData Top 3,000 Charities list
(a trusted source of charity information)
has shown that yet again, we’ve increased
our presence in the sector, now ranking an
impressive third in the external audit table,
with the highest number of new wins.
We’ve also won some notable new
universities as clients, building on our
position in the education sector, and raised
our profile in ‘social housing’ by sponsoring
the National Housing Federation Conference.
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I am delighted to be able to contribute to this first edition of Alumination.
Having carried out a number of roles during my years with Grant Thornton I am
immensely proud to have been selected as Grant Thornton’s new chief executive officer.
It’s an exciting time for the firm and I believe that we can look forward to a prosperous
future. Despite the challenging economic climate, there’s reason to be upbeat:
we’ve got the foundations of a very strong business.
It’s important that we retain our clarity of purpose.
Economic gloom calls for a concentrated focus on our aims
and objectives in the year ahead. I believe we need to create
greater clarity in our structure, in our market positioning,
in our messages into the marketplace and work hard to
improve our profile.
Our mission is simply to create a resilient and highly
profitable business. We’ll achieve this by concentrating on
five key areas.
First, pursuing leadership in our core market and selected
niche markets.
The merger is already helping us to increase our share in key
markets – AIM, public sector, not for profit and privately
held businesses – and will boost our ability to secure work
among larger corporate clients. It has strengthened our
service offering in areas such as forensic and financial
services. It has meant that we’ve breached the dominance
of the Big 4 to become the number four ranked auditor by
number of stock market clients. And it has bolstered
our presence in key locations, notably in London –
where we nearly doubled in size – in Manchester, Leeds
and Birmingham.
Second, through the qualities of our people.
The merger provided an opportunity to review the way
we develop and reward staff. We have improved core
benefits and introduced flexible benefits and will continue
to invest in training and development throughout 2009.
We are proud to be named in the Times survey as one of the
top 100 employers of graduates.
Also in regard to our people, I hope to see us redouble our
internal communications effort this year. It is critically
important that we talk as a homogenous, unified firm.
Third, by promoting our international capabilities,
which requires us to recognise that our international network
is a key differentiator relative to our immediate competitors.
We belong to a highly respected international brand and it is
a resource that will help us to grasp the international
opportunities that are arising in emerging economies –
China, Russia and particularly India are already providing
a lot of work for us.
Fourth, by developing and focusing on our industry
specialisms – which I believe is one of the most
effective ways to sell new business.
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“In these difficult economic times, singularity
of purpose is more important than ever.”
And fifth, by adopting a truly
one-firm approach. It’s essential that
we gel our new team together and
continue with the integration of our
merger. We’ve taken a lot of pain
over the last 18 months and there’s
still work to do in the next 12.
We have reshaped our leadership
board, bringing together what were
formerly the National Leadership
Board (NLB) and the Operations
board. The NLB comprises me,
Simon Morris (Chief Operating
Officer), Sacha Romanovitch
(People and Culture), David
Maxwell (Marketing), David
Campbell (Regions), Ian Smart
(London) and John Mew (Practice
Protection). The board creates a
more unified management team.
The merger with RSM Robson
Rhodes has inevitably had an
impact on our financial results.
More so as it came at the same time
as a slowing down of the
economy and the early stages of the
credit crunch. Having said that,
we still posted a revenue
increase of 25.3%,
the 11th year of annual income
growth. And now that the merger is
complete, we are working towards
restoring our gross margin and
utilisation rates to pre-merger levels,
as well as to exploiting the market
opportunities the merger has
presented. Although this will cause
short-term discomfort, it will enable
us to provide opportunities for our
most able staff and to fund further,
significant investment.
In these difficult economic times,
singularity of purpose is more
important than ever. It’s a time to
tighten our focus on where we
want to be and how we intend to
get there.
It’s about making difficult decisions,
taking necessary action and making
sure we’re ready for the upturn.
Remember that tough times also
bring with them opportunities.
And good firms are able to find
those opportunities.
Scott Barnes
CEO
Alumination 7

From
partner
to
Lord Mayor
in a day
Ian Luder, Tax Partner,
won the right to spend
the next year in chains as
Lord Mayor of the City of
London, having completed
a part-time role as
Alderman Sheriff in the
City of London, and
took up the position on
7 November 2008.
Having worked with us at
Grant Thornton as a partner in
Tax for six years, Ian’s enjoying his
position, which lasts for a year.
He will be taking a sabbatical to fulfil
his role as ambassador for the financial
sector and will have to meet a nearconstant
schedule of travelling abroad,
particularly to fast-growing markets
such as Asia, as well as South America
and Russia.
in public areas, and The Lord’s
Taverners, which gives young people,
particularly those with special needs, a
sporting chance. The fund-raising for
these is managed by The Lord Mayor’s
Appeal. Ian also will be the head of the
City of London Corporation, looking
after housing and the 15,000 acres of
open space, including Epping Forest.
“This gives me a chance to do a lot of
things I’m interested in, such as
influence how other countries see the
City and to help the wider community
and charities in this troubled economic
time. My clients have been very
supportive of me when I told them
I was being put forward for election,
as have my colleagues. I think they
know that I am contactable during this
year, even if I’m not so actively
involved. I’m looking forward to
creating a greater financial literacy in
young people and representing London
as a financial hub.”
Of course, the role includes many
things. The Lord Mayor is Chief
Magistrate of the City of London,
Admiral of the Port of London,
Chancellor of City University and
supports various charities.
The two charities that Ian will be
involved with are St John Ambulance
and its campaign for more defibrillators
8 Alumination

Unwrapping
a new brand
In 2006, the international organisation embarked on a huge consultation effort.
Its task To understand how the brand was perceived in different cultures.
It found that a new brand identity was needed – one that worked for
the entire organisation, for every member firm, wherever its location.
Our visual identity has been updated, in particular our previous logo had become a little tired.
In its place came a symbol based on the Mobius strip. It captures the qualities of a continuous band that
looks three-dimensional; permanent, yet constantly flexible. It reflects everything coming together into
one cohesive whole and is suggestive of the agility we aim to offer our clients.
Purple was chosen as a new identifying colour – to generate further visual ‘space’ from
competitors in a marketplace saturated by blue.
It is also a colour synonymous worldwide with dignity and leadership.
Other changes include the use of illustration, which allows complex
ideas to be conveyed simply.
Alumination 9

Lıvıng ın
Amerıca
While on location in
downtown Venice,
Florida, USA, Patrick
Brooke, a partner in
Grant Thornton UK LLP
took the opportunity to
catch up with one of the
firm’s retired partners,
John Twigg.
So, John, tell us about how you
started in Grant Thornton.
When I joined Thornton Baker & Co,
Leicester office in 1963, the firm was
just three and a half years old and, at
that time, most accountants’ offices
were dark, dreary places – a bit like out
of a Dickens’ tale – and usually using
old second-hand furniture and desks
and filing cabinets, and so on.
Although Leicester office at that time
wasn’t like the offices are now, it was a
lot better than that and I had come
from a small firm, sole practitioner,
where the sole practitioner died and
Thornton Baker & Co acquired the
business. So, I moved from a sole
practitioner to the Leicester office
which, at that time, had 10 partners
and 100 staff.
What was your discipline
Well, at that time, most of us were, you
know, general practitioners – audit,
a bit of accounting, tax and so on.
The thing about Leicester office then
was that it was an exciting place because
it was where Grant Thornton began
and I was privileged to know some of
the founding partners there, in
particular David Sirkin whose idea it
was to try and amalgamate a lot of
provincial practices. David started at
Baker & Co and he knew that, at that
time (this would be late fifties),
a lot of these practices around the
country had succession problems
because people didn’t have any money
to buy goodwill. He used to call me
“Mr Twigg”. How times have changed!
So, when did you become
a partner
I became a partner in 1970 and I had
a lot of help from Peter Smith who
was the first tax specialist the firm ever
had. I think he and Ted Godfrey were
the country’s Back Duty experts at
the time.
Well, we all remember Ted Godfrey
and his mac which I don’t think he
ever took off. So, John, you became
a partner in Leicester; how long
were you there
I was there from 1963 when I joined to
1974 when we moved to Nottingham.
Was that a new office at
Nottingham
Yes, Peter Smith had been asked by the
Inland Revenue to look at a small
practice in Nottingham where they
thought the proprietor was helping his
clients in the wrong way, but that
turned out to not be the case. However,
soon after, the guy died and his son
wasn’t qualified so couldn’t run the
business. At which point Peter said,
“Let’s see whether we should take it
over.” So I went over to Nottingham in
1974 and John McGibbon joined me
from London as a manager. We had
£30,000 of annual recurring fees
between this practice and the clients
who went with me from Leicester
(this is 1974) and, ten years later,
we touched £1m.
The other thing about Nottingham is
that the firm didn’t have to invest in
the office in any major way because
Peter Smith and I went along to
Barclays Bank and we negotiated a
£10,000 unsecured overdraft. A couple
of months later, I ran out of money
so I went back to Barclays and I said to
the manager, “Can I have another
£10,000,” and he said, “Will that be
enough” and, before I could answer,
he said, “We’ll make it £30,000.”
So we had £30,000 and we never
looked back after that.
10 Alumination

So, after Nottingham,
where did you go
In 1987 while at Nottingham I was
elected to the policy board. At that time
Mike Lickess was the National
Managing Partner, and a year later he
became president of the Institute,
so David McDonnell took over as
National Managing Partner,
and I found myself as chairman of
the policy board for the next four years.
In 1989 David asked me to move to
Birmingham to help a struggling office.
I did my best, but unfortunately,
I was ready to retire before we could
see a better future.
Let’s talk about retirement.
When did you retire and what
was the best thing about it
I retired in 1994 and the best thing for
me was moving to the United States.
A big decision.
Probably, but it didn’t seem so at the
time. It just seemed a natural thing
to do. You know, I think with Valerie
and I, once we spot something we
really want to do, we just grab hold of
it and do it.
But you’d been in the UK all your
life up until then.
Yes, but we’d been to the US many
times and we have a daughter living in
California which means we needed to
come here quite often.
Some people say, though,
“When you retire, don’t do anything
for a year and just get the feel of
retirement,” but you launched into
living in another country.
That’s quite brave I think.
We also started to play golf – I think that
was even braver! We never played golf
before we retired – we didn’t have time.
So, out of the whole of
America, why did you choose
Venice, Florida
We’d been to Sarasota which is nearby
many times in the past, and to a place
called Longboat Key, and we liked it
around here. We did think about going
to California, to join our daughter,
but it’s too busy. While we were
learning to play golf at a school near
Tampa we met some people who lived
in Waterford in Venice and they
recommended the area. So we had
a look around and just fell in love
with the place.
Alumination 11

What do you miss about the UK
and the British way of life
The weather Ha ha. It’s a different
lifestyle here. This community we live
in is not a retirement community,
but most of the people here are retired
so it’s quite different to living
somewhere in the UK. We used to live
in a village in Leicestershire which was
very nice but most of the people went
out to work every day. Here they
don’t, so all day people are around,
there are lots of activities, so there is
always something to do. We play golf
three or four times a week and the sun
is always shining. We have our own
swimming pool and our neighbours
and the people in general are great.
Going back to retirement, what
didn’t you like, what was
unexpected for you when you
retired Up until then, for all your
working life, you were a senior
partner, people took instruction
from you, so what happened
on the Monday morning after
you retired
Well, it’s true to say that people stop
taking notice of what you say, but also
the responsibility disappears, and you
stop worrying about timesheets and
recovery and combined percentages –
things like that.
A lot of people think about the loss
of status. Did that bother you
No it didn’t. In fact, it was
welcome – I’d had enough, so that
didn’t bother me at all. The thought
that I could now do something else
was a great thing. Do whatever I
wanted to do – a new life.
The people who will be reading
this article will think, “Here is a
guy who has done something really
different and he’s done it for
14 years, doesn’t regret anything.”
What advice would you give
Grant Thornton partners like me,
coming up to retirement
From my point of view, I would advise
to change your life completely. It’s the
perfect opportunity. If you’ve been an
accountant all your life and
working inside an office, why not get
outside and enjoy the sunshine.
Do different things, but most
importantly, don’t do any work!
What advice can you give them
about planning before retirement
What should they really be
thinking about
Well I think, obviously, the financial
situation is important, to make sure that
that’s adequate and secure. I would also
advise you to make your life financially
as simple as possible. As time goes on
after you retire, if you’ve got
complicated financial affairs you may
find it difficult to handle. You may
have to then pay somebody like
Grant Thornton to do your tax return!
I file my own US tax return because we
kept it as simple as possible.
Thinking back, which partners did
you interact with
All the partners at Leicester during my
time there, in particular Cyril
Riddington, Peter Smith, Ted Godfrey,
the Nottingham partners, John
McGibbon, Andrew Newsom-Smith,
Nazim Karimjee. I started insolvency
at Nottingham, so I knew all the
Insolvency partners during a very
successful period. Roy Adkins,
Alan Griffiths, Maurice Withall,
Geoff Harrison, Robert Buller, Mike
Scott, Alistair White and many others.
Also the partners at Birmingham
during my short time there. I see John
Hardbattle has now been there for a
few years, and still at Edmund Street.
Also my fellow partners on the Policy
Board and the Executive David
McDonnell and Ann Baldwin.
I’m sure there will be some
partners who will know your wife,
Valerie, very well, perhaps through
Grant Thornton International
conferences. Is she enjoying life
Well, every day she swims, cycles, plays
golf, relaxes in the sun with a good
book and generally has a very good
time, and she is very fit and well. She
likes it here but we go back to the UK
usually once a year, but we come home
saying, “We definitely made a good
move.” And, of course, we can spend a
lot more time together now, that’s
another good thing about retirement.
Is there anything else that you want
to pass on
Well, I would like to say congratulations
Thornton Baker & Co – it’s 50 years
next year! And congratulations to
Scott Barnes. I can remember Scott’s
first presentation when I was
chairing the Insolvency conference
and, Scott, you made me nervous!
It will be interesting to see in
which direction he takes the firm.
Thanks, John. Best wishes
from all at Grant Thornton go to
you and Val.
12 Alumination

Partner Support Unit
In addition to taking over Secretariat responsibility
from Tony Harper, Jenny Balme is now overseeing
the Partner Support Unit.
This unit comprises the Personal Tax, Financial Planning, Finance, C910 and
Benefit teams delivering a high quality service to partners in the firm. While its
primary aim is to support current partners it is looking to extend, where possible,
support to former partners of the firm. To date it has achieved access to private
medical insurance quotations and the Shopping Gateway.
A little bit about
Anne Austin
“
I’m the Pension Manager for the Grant Thornton
Pension Schemes and I also have responsibility for
the C910 Annuity which is paid to retired partners.
I started working with pension administration in 1989 at the Rover car
company and then moved to a logistics company and was a point of
contact for the members of a large pension scheme. Prior to joining
Grant Thornton in 2004 I worked for Hewitt, Bacon and Woodrow,
a large actuarial and pension administration service provider.
“
Since joining Grant Thornton, I’ve been responsible for the internal
administration of the firm’s pension schemes and managed the firm’s benefits
department. This included working on the implementation of
the HR and payroll system and the introduction of flexible benefits.
Alumination 13

Boost your spending power with the
Grant Thornton Shopping Gateway
We are delighted to announce that we are able to extend access to
Shopping Gateway to former partners of the firm. Employees have had
access to this website for just over two years and made significant savings.
It’s a website that offers a convenient way to save money on your purchases. Shopping Gateway is
provided via a third party that has negotiated a range of discounts from over 1,300 retailers, including:
• Savings on regular purchases from Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s
• Exclusive holidays and travel discounts from Expedia, lastminute.com, Thomas Cook
• Special discounts on electrical items from Comet, Currys and Dixons
To register for your free online account:
• Send an email to support@rewardgateway.co.uk with your name, date of birth and postcode.
These details will be used to identify you if you need to call the Helpdesk to reset your password.
• Shopping Gateway will use these details to create your online account and you will receive a
confirmation email containing login details within 24 hours.
• Then simply visit www.gtshoppinggateway.co.uk to login and start shopping and saving straight away.
Each purchase is from the individual retailer, not from Grant Thornton, so please be sure to read the
terms and conditions of the individual retailers.
We hope you enjoy using the site and if there are retailers not included that you regularly use please
notify Shopping Gateway and they will investigate your request with the retailer.
BUPA private medical
cover available for
retired partners
If you wish to obtain a quote for a new personal policy please refer to the
relevant section below.
E lucy.sutton@enrichreward.com
T 020 7330 8931
E colin.gatt@enrichreward.com
T 020 7330 8932
Important
Specific terms and conditions will apply depending on your personal circumstances.
If you would like more details on what information will be required to obtain your quote, before calling the brokers at Enrich,
please email Jill Kemp at equity.partner.benefits@gtuk.com who will provide you with an application guide.
Please also note the annual increase in the cost of medical insurance continues to outstrip normal RPI due to medical advances. While we hope
that this will provide access to competitive quotes we cannot ensure that the quotes you will obtain via this method will necessarily result in the
cheapest option in the market place. We therefore recommend that you shop around for this insurance and check the detail of what is covered/
excluded, as this can vary considerably from policy to policy, to ensure it meets your specific requirements.
14 Alumination

A little bit about
Tony Harper
“
I joined Thornton Baker as a fairly newly qualified chartered accountant in
November 1970, having trained with a seven-partner practice in Aldwych.
I remember very clearly being interviewed by Andrew Downs before starting as an audit senior based in our Lee
House, London Wall office. I started just a few weeks after Darryl Whitehead and Brian Shearer joined the firm as
graduate trainees and I’ve worked with the pair of them ever since.
In 1978 I was appointed a partner and transferred to our Bedford office to take over from Joe Pinnock,
who was retiring. I had fifteen enjoyable years in Bedford as an audit partner. In 1993 the firm asked me to move down
to Plymouth to take on the role of office managing partner, and I spent the next nine years in Devon living on the edge
of Dartmoor and having a great time working with Rob Withecombe building up the practice.
… I’m now looking forward to remaining in contact with retired partners through
this new alumni initiative and help forge and maintain the links.
In 2002 my wife and I decided that we wanted to return to the south-east and be closer to our family,
in response to which Michael Cleary asked me to take on the role of partnership secretary. This was, obviously,
a very different role to the one that I had been used to doing but was one that I have enjoyed enormously.
It has also enabled me to return to working in London after a gap of 24 years and to working again with
Michael and John Mew; again after a gap of 24 years!
“
I finally retired from the firm in March but am now looking forward to remaining in contact with retired partners
through this new alumni initiative and help forge and maintain the links.
Staying in touch
As mentioned earlier, former partners have been
neglected in terms of communication in the recent past,
but we hope that this is the first step towards building on this
unique community.
We would appreciate your thoughts, ideas and suggestions on the alumni
programme going forward.
If you would like to contribute to the next issue of Alumination please contact us at
partneralumni@gtuk.com
Alumination 15

© 2009 Grant Thornton UK LLP. All rights reserved.
‘Grant Thornton’ means Grant Thornton UK LLP,
a limited liability partnership.
Grant Thornton UK LLP is a member firm within
Grant Thornton International Ltd (‘Grant Thornton International’).
Grant Thornton International and the member firms are not
a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered by the member
firms independently.
This publication has been prepared only as a guide.
No responsibility can be accepted by us for loss occasioned
to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of
any material in this publication.
www.grant-thornton.co.uk
B1449301