‘Ireland has weathered the recent challenges well’

Managing Partners in Ireland’s leading accountancy and business advisory firms discuss their activity with Emily Styles and the challenges top of mind with clients

STEPHEN TENNANT CEO Grant Thornton Ireland

ACTIVITY In 2023, Grant Thornton Ireland reached a record turnover of c.€300m, with increased demand across all areas of the firm. We have invested heavily in line with changing market trends and client demands in areas such as digital transformation and sustainability.

OPERATIONS Operational challenges are unavoidable, especially in a firm of our size, but we pride ourselves on turning challenges into opportunities. We aim to continue growing sustainably, so we have introduced new policies and initiatives to support that. Examples include eliminating all single-use plastics, changing our travel policies, and creating a supportive environment through ED&I initiatives. We have embraced the hybrid working model but are also creating an environment where our people want to spend time in the office, irrespective of our policy.

AI AI technology is far from a new concept, and our teams have been working closely with clients for several years to develop tools to meet their needs. In the past 12 months, AI has forced organisations in all industries to expedite their approaches to embrace and optimise the opportunities that AI presents. As a firm, we are no exception, and we see the potential for AI to support clients with greater efficiency across our audit, tax and advisory services.

CSRD This year, the responsibility of businesses to have a credible ESG strategy in place is being discussed in depth in boardrooms across Ireland. The business community has clearly embraced the directive and is beginning to act accordingly to prepare for compliance. I think businesses appreciate the ambition and reasoning behind the CSR directive, while at the same time recognising it will require a level of investment to build internal capacity and to enhance current processes to enable them to make the required disclosures.

TECHNOLOGY The pace at which new technologies are coming on stream is fast, but these technologies are designed to introduce greater efficiencies for those who use them. So, where IT can support accountants, it is in a complementary way that will help automate the time it takes to otherwise manually review information.

OUTLOOK Clients have been feeling the pressures of inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain issues, and a global economic slowdown. There may be some relief on inflation and interest rates this year, but growth predictions for Ireland and globally are much more subdued than what we have been used to in recent years.

Ireland has weathered the recent challenges well, although some sectors, such as the tech sector, are still navigating choppy waters. Ireland’s relative stability as a location to invest has undoubtedly helped us. Having said that, there are issues with housing and infrastructure that still need to be addressed and are on our clients’ minds.