Business and finance adviser Grant Thornton, which has its East Midlands regional office in Leicester, has strengthened further its public sector assurance team with the appointment of John Golding as head of its not-for-profit practice across the Midlands.
A highly experienced adviser to private and public sectors, Golding joined Grant Thornton in 2007, was practice leader for the firm’s Bristol office for three years until July 2014 and also led until recently the public sector assurance team in the South West region.
Over the years Golding has worked with many of the country’s leading housing associations, charities, colleges and universities including Cambridge University, the University of Gloucestershire, Accord Housing and has also been a governor of a leading sixth form college. Golding was already developing a specialism in the not-for-profit sector when his focus on public services was honed during a three-year secondment to the Audit Commission in the early 2000s.
He said: “Social housing and education sectors are hugely valuable to both the economy of the Midlands and the UK, but they are facing unprecedented economic challenges due to changes to the ways they are funded. Senior executives now have to address how they equip their organisations to be financially fit for the future.
“Just as local government is having to introduce more innovative ways of working to take account of austerity measures, so are these essential service providers to ensure they not only survive in the future, but thrive.”
Chris Frostwick, partner and practice leader at Grant Thornton in Leicester, added: “John’s blend of skills gained from his uniquely wide-ranging experience means that new and existing clients will benefit from his breadth of technical knowledge combined with commercially astute advice. He is incredibly passionate about his subject and his joining the team is a huge coup, enhancing further our work in this vital sector.”
Grant Thornton’s Leicester office has approximately 160 staff providing business and financial advice across Corporate and Personal Tax, audit and assurance, employer solutions, corporate finance, and sustainability, to organisations across the East Midlands.
