Grant Thornton expands into digital

Headed by newly appointed Technology Partner Trevor Dunne, the practice will work across Grant Thornton’s growing client base identifying opportunities to develop digital strategies and operating models and to successfully implement game-changing technology.

Mr Dunne said: ““There has never been a wider acceptance of the role that technology and data can play in driving any business forward. The recent and ongoing pandemic has taught us that it has never been more important to get it right: your customers’ and your employees’ expectations have all changed - and now most of them are remote.

“ Your market is truly global, and the opportunity for an agile business is huge. But make no mistake, your future competitors are all digital.

““When we talk about technology that can quickly effect real change in businesses, we’re thinking of course about robotics, and artificial intelligence, but also ‘augmented analytics’ platforms, and low-code apps amongst a myriad of other solutions. This is a great opportunity but for many it seems like a daunting threat. It needn’t be.

“A lot can be achieved by just making better use of vast amounts of data companies are already accumulating without even realising it.

“For example, working with a local FMCG and retail company, our team was able to harness the data they had already accumulated to build a model which, for the first time, properly explained to them what was really driving their own sales performance.

“We then used predictive analytics and AI to explain how affecting these drivers would maximise performance. These techniques optimised sales and predicted outcomes with impressive levels accuracy.”

The new practice will integrate with Grant Thornton’s existing service lines including advisory, audit and tax.

Richard Gillan, managing Partner, Grant Thornton Northern Ireland commented: “We are delighted that Trevor has joined us to head our Digital Transformation offering.

“He comes with a first-class reputation for guiding organisations through the implementation of technology-enabled transformation solutions for their business.

“The announcement comes on the back of a period of sustained growth for Grant Thornton in Northern Ireland with revenues increasing fourfold over the past five years as demand has increased across all service lines.”

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