What did you want to be when you were younger?
I wanted to be a teacher but after nine months of teaching English to Spanish teenagers as part of my university year abroad I decided it was not the career path for me!

What made you choose your current profession?
Growing up with two accountant parents, I always swore that accountancy and finance in general was not the route for me. However, I moved back to the island in my early 20s and after working for a year in a different field I decided to try finance, and I am still here over a decade later.

 Why did you choose to work for Grant Thornton?
Grant Thornton has always been a respected name in the industry. I liked the idea of working for a larger, well-established firm but the Big 4 firms did not appeal after having done management shadowing at one of them as a student, and having heard anecdotes from friends about the pressure and stress that can come with a trainee role there. I had also heard that you can get pigeonholed into one specialism which I would have found limiting. Grant Thornton seemed to be a good middle ground between still having interesting clients and projects while having more variety with the breadth of taxes I could work on.

How has Grant Thornton helped you grow professionally?
Grant Thornton and the senior management team have been vital in my personal and professional growth over the past 11 years. From ample study leave and support during my professional qualification to ongoing training and clear steps for career advancement, and encouragement to progress up the career ladder. The company has supported my career development at every level up to my current role as Tax Senior Manager.

What do you most like about working at Grant Thornton?
For me it has always been about the people I work with.

I have seen the Guernsey office grow from 45 people to over 200 people but whilst growth has been a key part of company strategy, the firm has still managed to maintain a positive and welcoming atmosphere – and the values have stayed the same throughout this period of expansion. I also appreciate the variety of work that I get the opportunity to be involved in, from reviewing a retiree’s personal tax return to advising on large corporate and trust restructurings with various tax implications in Guernsey, the UK and sometimes other jurisdictions.