Four new partners for Grant Thornton in the UAE

Grant Thornton has over the past weeks boosted its partner team with four new partners, with an even split between internal promotions and external hires.

Hired from rivals are Imran Jaffer (Abu Dhabi), partner in the Restructuring Advisory practice, and Faizan Ahmed (Dubai), partner in the Audit and Assurance practice.

Meanwhile, Neha Julka (Dubai) and Mohamed ElKhashab (Abu Dhabi) have been promoted to partner in the Advisory and Audit divisions respectively. The pair have both been with the professional services firm for over seven years.

“We are delighted to welcome Imran and Faizan to the team and look forward to benefiting from the diverse perspectives they bring that will also enrich our capacity to positively drive progress for our clients and the firm,” said Hisham Farouk, CEO, Grant Thornton in the UAE.

“As an organisation committed to the development and career progression of our talent force, we are also happy to celebrate the promotion of Neha Julka and Mohamed ElKhashab who, in their new roles, will continue to deliver quality and value to the integrated services our clients require.”

Imran Jaffer has diverse experience in banking, credit fund management, and advisory services. He works with listed and unlisted corporates; credit and distressed funds; as well as sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms. He joined Grant Thornton from PwC.

Faizan Ahmed has 18 years of industry experience in providing audit and assurance services for key sectors including real estate, hospitality, government-related entities as well as public rest entities and large family conglomerates. His expertise also spans guiding clients through IPOs and debt-raising processes. He joined Grant Thornton from Deloitte.

Neha Julka has a proven financial advisory track record of delivering analysis to regulators, government backed entities, large conglomerates, family offices and SMEs alike in addition to conducting comprehensive valuations, financial modelling and M&A mandates spanning a wide range of industries, including financial services, hospitality, food & beverage, and logistics. Earlier in her career, she worked for Protiviti and BDO.

Mohamed ElKhashab has extensive knowledge and understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS), compliance, Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting (ICFR), and financial due diligence. He has been with Grant Thornton his entire career.

Grant Thornton has over 700 professionals working from four offices in the UAE, in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Across the Middle East, the firm ranks as one of the leading consulting firms.