Why Grant Thornton UK Hired its First Chief People Officer

Abigail Fisher has been appointed as Grant Thornton UK’s first Chief People Officer, joining the firm in late February. 

According to the company, this newly created role will involve shaping a people strategy that can support a high-performance, future-focused culture to help employees grow and thrive. 

Malcolm Gomersall, Chief Executive Officer of Grant Thornton UK, says of the appointment: “Abigail’s appointment marks an important step in our journey to strengthen our culture and further enhance our people experience.

“Her experience and passion for people will help us build on what makes Grant Thornton a great place to work while modernising our operations to meet our clients’ evolving needs.”

Building people strategies that drive growth

Abigail has more than 20 years of experience in human resources and organisational transformational roles – most recently at Eversheds Sutherland, where she has held senior HR leadership roles for the past 12 years. 

In these roles, she has worked to develop new people strategies that drive growth, while also increasing diverse representation within the organisations she has worked for.

She previously held a role at Grant Thornton for three years as a People and Change Manager, giving her an insight into how the firm operates. 

Abigail says: “I’m thrilled to be returning to Grant Thornton, a firm that has always held a special place in my career. 

“This is an exciting time of growth and transformation, and I look forward to working with our talented teams to create an inclusive, high-performance culture where everyone can thrive.”

Leadership transformation at Grant Thornton

This new appointment follows a significant investment in the company from Cinven in 2025, which made Grant Thornton the largest UK professional services firm to take external equity investment. 

As part of this investment, the company has pledged to increase its leadership team significantly, announcing in December 2025 that it had already appointed more than 100 new senior leadership positions across 2025 – including 20 new directors and partners and Chris Stefani, its new Chief Financial Officer. 

Malcolm says of this growth: “Expanding our senior team with these exceptional appointments is a clear signal of our ambition and confidence in the future. 

“Our focus on promoting talent from within whilst also attracting outstanding leaders to join our firm reflects the strength of our culture, and the appeal of our unique partnership model. 

“These appointments will play a pivotal role in delivering on our growth strategy and ensuring we continue to lead the market with quality, innovation and client impact.”

Reshaping people experience

Prior to Abigail’s appointment, responsibility for the firm’s people strategy, culture and wider HR functions was split amongst the senior leadership team. 

This new appointment marks a more focused approach to people strategy for the company, particularly amongst its plans to grow rapidly, with the company sharing that it plans to recruit 160 new partners over the next two years to help reshape the business. 

According to the company, this new position will be central to this growth – helping to ensure talent acquisition pathways are in place to recruit specialised roles and implementing new data analytics for HR transformation to create a future-ready workforce.