Grant Thornton accountancy firm plans to increase UK graduate recruitment by 30 per cent this year, reversing a trend among professional services firms under a growth strategy fuelled by private equity giant Cinven.
Grant Thornton will hire 340 graduates and school leavers in the UK this year, which is the highest number in three years and up 30 per cent from last year, according to Abigail Fisher, its chief public officer.
“We remain invested in trainees and we’ve increased our numbers compared with last year,” Fisher said. With AI set to disrupt the professional services industry, it has been a brutal job market for new graduates in recent years. Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC have cut 1,100 entry- level roles in the UK over the past two years, with their combined intake of graduates and apprentices falling from 6.500 in 2023 to 5,400 in 2025, as previously reported.
PwC and KPMG declined to comment on their 2026 graduate intake. EY and Deloitte said entry-level hiring would be broadly in line with last year at around 1,600 and 1,500 respectively.
Figures from student careers research firm High Fliers show that accounting and professional services firms in the UK plan to hire 3.5 per cent fewer graduates in 2026 than last year.
The graduate push at Grant Thornton, which will hire across its audit, tax and advisory businesses, comes after the firm announced plans in November to add 160 managing directors to its 280-strong partnership in two years. It has appointed 26 new partners in the first quarter of the year.
Fisher returned to the firm in a newly created role in February after 12 years at law firm Eversheds Sutherland. Other senior appointments this year include chief digital officer David Gartside, who joined from McKinsey and chief commercial officer Frederik Vinten, previously at FTI consulting.
Cinven acquired a majority stake in Grant Thornton’s UK business in April 2025 and also bought its German arm in a deal announced in September. Fisher said the firm is currently redesigning its three-year graduate programme in the age of AI and changing client expectations.
“We are doing work behind the scenes,” she said. “What does the future partner look like? What do we need to recruit for? And how are we evolving our learning and development programmes to make sure that we are supporting our people to develop their future skills?”
Other accountancy firms, often backed by private equity, have been ramping up entry-level hiring to drive growth.
Azets, backed by Hg and PAI Partners, took on 384 graduates and school leavers across its UK business in 2025, marking a 15 per cent increase year-on-year. A spokesperson for Azets said the firm is aiming for graduate hiring this year to be “in line with or potentially above” 2025.
Cooper Parry, owned by Lee Equity Partners, hired more than 140 new trainees in its largest trainee cohort in 2025, a 40 per cent rise from the previous year.
Meanwhile, a growing number of directors and aspiring partners are also leaving the Big Four firms to join rival accountancy and advisory firms, in search of better career progression.
“A lot of people are talking to us because they are a bit stilted where they are. It’s not the case here,” said Fisher. “We are accelerating partners – there are a number being promoted in their early to mid 30s.” All of its new partners have equity in the business.
She added: “We are not in the kind of professional services stuffy environment where you have to wait for this partner to leave for another partner to take their place. We are very open to bringing people through.”
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
