My Life in Numbers
Claire Thomson CA
Director – Head of UK Financial Reporting, Grant Thornton
My Life in Numbers
Claire Thomson CA
Director – Head of UK Financial Reporting, Grant Thornton
As well as being a Director at Grant Thornton, lifelong Belfast native Claire Thomson CA is a passionate musician, dedicated charity volunteer and “mother” to a well-fed musk turtle. She lays down the numbers that sum up her world
4
I grew up in the suburbs of south Belfast. The four of us – Mum, Dad, me and my younger brother. Mum was a classroom assistant at a primary school, but Dad was a chartered accountant, like his father before him. They always joked that I was going to end up being an accountant because I was good at maths. I fervently denied it – and I still deny it to an extent. But here I am 15 years later…
4
I grew up in the suburbs of south Belfast. The four of us – Mum, Dad, me and my younger brother. Mum was a classroom assistant at a primary school, but Dad was a chartered accountant, like his father before him. It was always joked that I was going to end up being an accountant because I was good at maths. I fervently denied it – and I still deny it to an extent. But here I am 15 years later…
10
Maths and music were my main things at school. I was never sporty, but I played trumpet for 10 years – I’d play at church events and I was in the brass section of the school orchestra. So between music lessons, performing and church events, that took up a lot of my evenings as a child. Maths was always my best subject. I like logic and logical thinking, so even though I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life, it made sense to study that at university.
10
Maths and music were my main things at school. I was never sporty, but I played trumpet for 10 years – I’d play at church events and I was in the brass section of the school orchestra. So between music lessons, performing and church events, that took up a lot of my evenings as a child. Maths was always my best subject. I like logic and logical thinking, so even though I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life, it made sense to study that at university.
2005
Sure enough, in 2005 I went to Queen’s University, Belfast to study maths. I thought about going to Stirling in Scotland, but I don’t think I was ready to leave home at that point. I was quite a homebird and Queen’s was only three or four miles down the road, so I lived at home and that suited me just fine. But by the time I got to my third and final year I was very much ready to leave home…
1
…So when I did my master’s, in banking and finance, I went to Stirling. I could have done it at Queen’s, but decided to fly away to Scotland for one year. My aunt and uncle were there, so I had family down the road if I needed anything. It’s also a really beautiful campus, built around a lake with swans and ducks, rabbits and squirrels. I love the city, it’s a fabulous place.
1
…So when I did my master’s, in banking and finance, I went to Stirling. I could have done it at Queen’s, but decided to fly away to Scotland for one year. My aunt and uncle were there, so I had family down the road if I needed anything. It’s also a really beautiful campus, built around a lake with swans and ducks, rabbits and squirrels. I love the city, it’s a fabulous place.
2008
I started my master’s just as the financial crash hit. The lecturers were ripping up their notes, going “Well, this has never happened before…”. So I knew at that point I wasn’t going to have a graduate job come summer. I’d been working for Next part time throughout my degrees, both in Belfast and Stirling. So when I completed my master’s I spoke to them and got a full-time job there back in Belfast while things settled down in the jobs market.
2010
The market was still in recovery when I applied to accounting firms the following year. Grant Thornton offered me a job, starting in 2010. One benefit of its training over a Big Four firm is the sheer range of clients – construction, charities, retail, manufacturing – everything. I loved the variety. Then, as you grow through your qualification, there’s an element of project management as well, managing other staff on the job, making sure deliverable deadlines are met.
3
When I joined Grant Thornton, I figured I’d be there for three years, then move into industry and do some sort of risk management. But I stayed for another year, then another, and gradually, through working in the risk, compliance and professional standards department, found my way into a role that really works for me. Looking back, I’m glad I chose Grant Thornton – I’m so settled here and I love the culture of the place. I wouldn’t move now.
23
I am Head of Financial Reporting and Accounting Standards, part of our audit operations team. So rather than external clients, mine are now the rest of the firm, particularly the audit department. The engagement teams ask us: “What does company law say about this? Our client has done this – how should they be accounting for it?”
There’s 11 of us in the financial reporting team and 23 overall in audit professional standards, split between financial reporting, which is what I do, audit methodology, sustainability technical, and learning and development. We’re spread across Ireland – around half in Dublin, four of us in Belfast, and the rest in regional offices across the rest of Ireland, so it’s not just a centralised function. We try to meet up once a month in Dublin. The rest of the time it’s over Teams.
2
Northern Ireland has been in a unique spot since Brexit, kind of having one foot in the EU because of the border situation. We’re starting to see some divergence between the UK and EU on regulations and that’s bringing a lot of paperwork, a lot of new rules we have to follow, particularly from a tax perspective. It means we need specialists on both sides of the border to make sure we’re keeping our clients properly informed, which is what makes being an all-Ireland firm so beneficial.
2
Northern Ireland has been in a unique spot since Brexit, kind of having one foot in the EU because of the border situation. We’re starting to see some divergence between the UK and EU on regulations and that’s bringing a lot of paperwork, a lot of new rules we have to follow, particularly from a tax perspective. It means we need specialists on both sides of the border to make sure we’re keeping our clients properly informed, which is what makes being an all-Ireland firm so beneficial.
8,000
I sing in a choir, play piano and I’ve recently taken up the clarinet. I don’t play the trumpet any more, but music is still a huge part of my life. We play big concerts once or twice a year at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast – we had our 30th anniversary concert there in September. At Christmas we did two events in the SSE Arena in Belfast, which has a capacity of around 8,000. One night was sold out and the other was very close. Do I get nervous beforehand? No, I enjoy it too much.
8,000
I sing in a choir, play piano and I’ve recently taken up the clarinet. I don’t play the trumpet any more, but music is still a huge part of my life. We play big concerts once or twice a year at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast – we had our 30th anniversary concert there in September. At Christmas we did two events in the SSE Arena in Belfast, which has a capacity of around 8,000. One night was sold out and the other was very close. Do I get nervous beforehand? No, I enjoy it too much.
15
I have a musk turtle called Sprout, who lives in a big tank in the kitchen. I’d wanted one for a couple of years, but I was renting and didn’t want the hassle of having to move it. So when I got my own place in 2023, I thought I’m an adult and if I want a turtle I can have a turtle!
The name comes from their defence mechanism – in the wild if they sense danger they give off a certain musk. Sprout’s around 15 months old. They have a typical lifespan of 20 years, but can live till 50 in captivity. The upkeep involves a lot of tank cleaning and feeding. We had sea bass for dinner last night – he eats better than I do!
6,580
I volunteer as the treasurer for a charity, Transform Burkina, which supports NGOs in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. We fund these NGOs to carry out different projects. One assists the Bethanie health centre, which last year treated 6,580 people, everything from mothers giving birth to dentistry, blood tests, vaccinations and treatment for diarrhoea or malaria. I’ve visited three times, including in 2006 when it officially opened. We also sponsor teachers’ salaries and provide school meals for 2,000 children. I like being able to use my skills to help, and having been there at the start it’s great to see the way the health centre has built up.
6,580
I volunteer as the treasurer for a charity, Transform Burkina, which supports NGOs in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. We fund these NGOs to carry out different projects. One assists the Bethanie health centre, which last year treated 6,580 people, everything from mothers giving birth to dentistry, blood tests, vaccinations and treatment for diarrhoea or malaria. I’ve visited three times, including in 2006 when it officially opened. We also sponsor teachers’ salaries and provide school meals for 2,000 children. I like being able to use my skills to help, and having been there at the start it’s great to see the way the health centre has built up.
3
I’m an ICAS ambassador for Ireland now. There are three of us. One of the other ambassadors, Graham Stirling CA, is a Grant Thornton partner, so once he found out I was ICAS, that was the end of that – I was becoming an ambassador, like it or not! Fortunately I do like it. We are trying to build a network of members across Ireland. Graham and Ewan Dunbar CA are both based in the Republic, so it makes sense to have someone north of the border.
11
I’m also Chair of ICAS’ 11-strong Corporate and Financial Reporting Panel. When the government or regulators are thinking about new legislation or changes in accounting requirements, they conduct consultations with stakeholders. We tell them what we like, what we don’t, maybe point out some things they need to consider. It’s mostly written responses, so we’re not trooping down Whitehall or anything, but it’s a useful thing to do, both for myself and for the profession.
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