Grant Thornton Cayman said goodbye to retiring founding partner Terry Carson and welcomed incoming new partner Dara Keogh at a celebration at Grand Old House on 22 February.
Terry Carson and Ian Johnson became partners of Morris Brankin in 2002 and rebranded the firm under the Grant Thornton flag in 2003. In 2010 they purchased the business from its former owners. In the fifteen years since becoming partners Terry and Ian nurtured the firm through significant growth to its current size which is more than four times what it was then.
Terry is proud of his accomplishments, but hands the credit to his team: “Grant Thornton Cayman has a solid foundation and a strong team. Together, we have created a firm that is well-positioned to seize the opportunities of the future. It has been an incredible experience working with these dedicated and warm people over the years”, he said.
Terry was not only a committed businessman, but believed strongly in giving back to the community, especially by his contributions to education through the Chamber of Commerce and providing training to young Caymanians targeting accounting, time-keeping and other business-related skills. In his leisure time, he is fascinated with cruise ships and has cruised all over the world. It is heard that he hopes to spend at least 100 days at sea per year in his retirement.
New partner Dara Keogh is well known in Cayman’s financial services industry, having a substantial 15-year history in Cayman. He has been a partner and head of insurance and banking with a Big-4 accountancy firm, and went on to support the establishment of a newly licensed a Cayman-based reinsurance company. In late 2016, he entered into discussions with the principals of Grant Thornton to buy into their partnership.
“The Grant Thornton proposition here was very appealing to me”, said Dara. “There is a wonderful opportunity for growth, the team here is fantastic, globally Grant Thornton has a superb platform that sets us apart from all other accountancy and audit firms and we have a strong book of business already. I see no reason why we will not be able to double our business here in the next years”.
Grant Thornton is an internationally recognised accountancy and audit firm with members in more than 130 countries and employing more than 47,000 people. Grant Thornton in the Cayman Islands offers audit, tax and accounting advisory services in addition to specialist services including cross-border and domestic insolvency, asset tracing, investigation and recovery, corporate restructuring and recovery and solvent liquidations.