Grant Thornton Ireland: Driving Business with Purpose
How do you assess Ireland’s economy?
Ireland is a small and open economy that it is heavily affected by global economic events. It is the reason why our economy was severely impacted a few years ago, and is now experiencing such a strong rebound. Brexit is Ireland’s biggest current external issue, but it can become an opportunity for those that are well positioned. In recent years, Ireland’s economy has diversified away from the construction and real estate sectors, which are prone to easily becoming inflated. Today what we see is more corporate employment and earnings. Overall the economy is much more balanced.
How do you assess Ireland’s role as a hub for American investment?
American companies see the benefits of the EU’s 400 million person market. Ireland will soon be the only English speaking country in the EU, and is the closest culturally to the US. Having US pre-clearance flights out of Dublin, and a 12.5% corporate tax rate has also been historically important. The consistency in such policies is vital to attracting additional investments.
How is Grant Thornton evolving?
We have grown at least 20% year-after-year, and are the fastest growing professional services firm in Ireland. We try to be different in everything we do, from how we attract talent, to our approach with clients. We are constantly looking at offering new innovative service lines. We recently launched an aviation offering, which is unique in the area and ensures both the lessee and the lessor have an independent expert able to understand the sector’s complicated models and offer solutions to complex nuances that may have a monumental financial impact on their company. Within two years of launching this new service, we have represented ten of the largest lessee and lessors in the world. We have evolved our view of how we add value to our clients, and have increasingly diversified our internal talent pool to better cater to an ever changing market demand in a variety of niche segments.
How is Grant Thornton ensuring quality services across Ireland’s regions?
Grant Thornton covers all of Ireland. In other nations, you might experience a difference in quality when you move outside the capital. This is not the case in Ireland. The regions offer exceptional quality better suited for many investors, and we have seven locations across the island with high caliber staff. Ireland has excellent regional universities with exceptional talent. These universities and businesses have close relationships and collaborate on leading edge R&D.
How is Grant Thornton Ireland tailoring its services to US clients?
Grant Thornton has offices all over the US, and since 2013 there are ‘Irish desks’ manned by staff from Grant Thornton Ireland in New York, Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Our staff meet clients in their offices anywhere in the US to discuss the benefits of having operations in Ireland. All Grant Thornton offices in the US know that when clients inquire about Ireland, they can have an Irish representative there the next day to answer any questions and consult in the process.