Richard Parkin, the co-leader of Grant Thornton’s Strategy group, has joined Strategic Gears, a Saudi management consulting firm with an ambitious growth drive in the UK market.
Appointed as Partner and UK Office Leader, Richard Parkin has been tasked with spearheading the firm’s expansion in the UK market. In a dual role, he will also lead the newly established Commercial Due Diligence offering, which offers clients strategic and commercial due diligence services during their mergers, acquisitions, divestments, and other financial transactions.
Parkin brings over 22 years of experience in the consulting sector to Strategic Gears, during which he has led nearly 100 commercial due diligence engagements spanning deal sizes from under $10 million to over $500 million. His sector expertise includes B2B services, industrials, and the automotive ecosystem.
He joins from Grant Thornton, where he spent 10 years in its London office, and co-led the Strategy group for the past five years. Previously, he held senior roles at EY, and worked for strategy consultancies Roland Berger and Mars & Co.
Now at Strategic Gears, he will focus on building out the UK-based team, developing sector-specific intelligence in mobility and sustainable transport, and integrating commercial due diligence into the firm’s broader strategy and value-creation mandates.
“Strategic Gears has some real growth momentum, and I’m excited to be part of the journey in building out the firm’s offering and geographical reach,” said Parkin.
Headquartered in Saudi Arabia, Strategic Gears is one of the Middle East’s leading consulting firms for strategy and management services, with over 300 staff across offices in Riyadh and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Cairo (Egypt) and London (UK). Earlier this year, the firm announced it is entering a “new phase of growth”, with Parkin’s two mandates (expansion of the Strategy offering and UK growth) important pillars of its growth roadmap.
“Strategic Gears also stood out to me because of great culture and bright, motivated people,” noted Parkin. “Consulting work is varied and exciting, but it’s not without risk – being part of a cohesive and motivated team really helps to get things done.”