Northern Ireland woman appointed as new partner at global accounting and consulting giant

Deloitte has appointed Grace Cartin as a partner in Belfast in the firm’s annual round of promotions.

Cartin, who is part of Deloitte’s Audit and Assurance team, joined Deloitte as a graduate trainee. She now has more than 12 years’ experience working with a range of large private and multinational companies, providing audit and advisory services across a wide range of business sectors, with a focus on banking, energy, technology, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Grace Cartin, partner at Deloitte, said: “As a partner I am looking forward to continuing to work with a wide network of local and global companies, and as we look to realise our ambition of growing the audit team here in Belfast, I am passionate about helping to build and retain the amazing talent we have in Deloitte.

“Since joining as an audit associate almost 13 years ago I have received huge support from both experienced managers and peers and have been given fantastic opportunities to develop my own expertise, including 18 months working in the US within Deloitte’s global audit innovation team.

"I am very grateful to have had those opportunities and the chance to work with market leading companies from day one at the firm.”

Deloitte Northern Ireland has made 190 promotions in total across the business. Mark Cree and Leanne Morris have been promoted to the position of senior director and David Sloan, Emma Blair, Chris Sutton and Ryan Woodburn have all been promoted to director.

Across the UK, Deloitte has promoted 81 people to partner. Of the new promotions, 27 (33%) are women, increasing the total number of Deloitte’s women partners to 412 (30% of partners). This year’s promotions include 19 new partners from ethnic minority backgrounds, equating to 23% of the promotions.

Jackie Henry, office senior partner in Northern Ireland, explained: “I would like to congratulate Grace and everyone else who has been promoted in Belfast, and wish them all the best in their careers.

“I’m pleased to see that the number of women and ethnic minority partners in our firm continues to increase, which means that we have met our women and ethnic minority partner targets for 2025 a year early. We will prioritise creating an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone has an opportunity to thrive, regardless of ethnic or socio-economic background, sexual orientation or neurodiversity.”

Aisléan Nicholson, partner at Deloitte in Belfast, added: “We are delighted that Grace has been made a partner at Deloitte in Belfast, which reflects her expertise, experience and the ongoing growth of our audit and advisory business, while reinforcing the opportunities and career pathways that are available to our people.

“Deloitte’s Belfast office continues to go from strength to strength and it is incredibly positive to also see Mark, Leanne, David, Emma, Chris and Ryan being promoted, in addition to many other promotions at all levels.”

The number of UK partners overall now stands at 1,369. Deloitte also recruited 36 new external hires at partner level in the UK during the financial year from June 2023 to the end of May 2024.