London - 14 October 2020:

Grant Thornton International Ltd is delighted to announce the appointment of Trent Gazzaway, currently national managing partner for audit quality and innovation at Grant Thornton US, as global leader for quality joining the network’s global leadership team.

Trent will take up his position from 1 November and will report directly to global CEO, Peter Bodin. Reporting directly to Trent will be Ed Fox, global head of quality, and Katherine Schamerhorn who heads up global methodology and learning for GTIL.

“Quality is a key strategic focus for the network and Trent will be heavily involved in shaping and developing the network’s approach in this pivotal area,” says global CEO, Peter Bodin. “He is an incredibly experienced professional who possesses deep expertise and credibility not just in the US firm but throughout the network and with key stakeholders globally. Appointing someone of Trent’s experience and standing in the profession sends a clear signal of how important quality standards are to our network.”

The focus internationally on quality in the profession has never been greater and Trent’s role will be pivotal to the global network as scrutiny not just of audit and assurance, but across all service lines, continues to grow worldwide. Working closely with global head of audit Sue Almond, Trent will also assume responsibility for oversight of ISQM1 implementation by the network.

As a member of the US firm’s senior leadership team, Trent is responsible for all quality control functions for the firm’s Audit practice and has made quality the foundation of its operations and client services. For the past three years in a row, the US firm’s quality-inspection results — as conducted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board — have been among the top two reported for large US accounting firms.

Any media enquiries can be referred to Thor Bostelmann, Global Corporate Communications Manager at thor.bostelmann@gti.gt.com.