Grant Thornton Australia confirmed with staff earlier this afternoon a merger with GNC Group Consulting, which is a retail and consumer product focused management firm of about 50 consultants.

The move is the latest in Grant Thornton’s push in the growth advisory space, which has been an ongoing and vocal focus of the firm in recent years.

In terms of service lines, Grant Thornton will now be upping its specialised advisory services — including commercial finance, category management and property services — to its retail clients.

“We have had a very clear plan to expand our growth advisory expertise and to provide our clients — particularly mid-size clients — with more expertise and advice to help them to grow,” said Grant Thornton chief executive Greg Keith.

“Our growth advisory team — which is essentially the consultancy arm of our business — will make up approximately 15 per cent of our revenue with GNC Group Consulting part of the organisation and we aim to elevate that figure to over 25 per cent within the next few years,” he said.

Accountants Daily understands there are further announcements about management structure set for release next week as a result of the merger. Mr Keith will be staying on board as chief executive of Grant Thornton.

The firms are expected to gradually begin integrating over the next 12 months, as opposed to an immediate overhaul of operations and culture.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.