Grant Thornton UK has appointed Richard Stark as corporate finance advisory partner and Kate Finn as private capital audit partner in Manchester.
Stark joins after 20 years at KPMG, including 16 years in corporate finance advisory. He previously led KPMG’s North West team, advising on business sales to trade buyers and private equity investors.
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At Grant Thornton, he will focus on expanding the company’s mergers and acquisitions work in Manchester and across the UK.
Stark said: “What attracted me most was the scale of ambition and opportunity.
“The potential to further grow our North West market presence is clear, and we have the expertise, breadth and established, trusted reputation to deliver on that.
“It means we can combine a partner-led, client centric approach, with deep sector-specific content and multi-disciplinary input.”
Finn brings more than 20 years of experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where she led external audits for listed companies, private businesses, private equity-backed organisations and international clients.
Her sector experience includes aerospace and defence, retail and consumer, manufacturing, construction and travel.
Finn said: “The North West partner group is a fantastic team to be part of, and I am looking forward to working with them to support the firm’s growth ambitions.”
The company has appointed five partners in Manchester over the past three months, including two internal promotions. Zeenat Patel was promoted to audit partner in July, followed by Steph Baker in August.
Grant Thornton UK’s North West practice has more than 500 professionals across its Manchester and Liverpool offices.
Grant Thornton UK North West Practice lead Pete Terry said: “Manchester has real energy and many of our clients are thriving.
“We are growing our partnership to meet this demand and are putting the new expertise where clients need it most.”
Grant Thornton UK recently picked Nina Gopal as the head of its Core Advisory practice.
