Grant Thornton appoints Wi Liem Chua as Head of Management Consulting
Grant Thornton has appointed Wi Liem Chua as its new national leader for management consulting alongside his current role overseeing retail & consumer products.
Chua has been with Grant Thornton for the past eight years, joining the firm upon its acquisition of Melbourne-based management consultancy and retail sector specialist GNC Group in 2017, before which he spent time at Target and Coles.
Appointed national retail & consumer products practice lead in 2023, Chua will now have responsibility for Grant Thornton’s Australian management consulting division added to his portfolio, taking over from Jamie Downs after five years.
“It was a natural fit,” Downs said. “Wil’s drive, dedication and inherent curiosity has seen him thrive in consulting since he made the career move a decade ago. I have no doubt he will continue to encourage and inspire our team to deliver strong, successful outcomes, ensuring we provide tailored solutions for our clients and setting them up for the future.”
Downs, who will continue on as a partner at the firm, co-founded GNC Group in late 2010, previously serving as a general manager at Coles when Chua first joined the supermarket giant as a procurement graduate in 2009 following a business degree at RMIT. Chua would then spend over seven years between Coles and Target before switching to consulting in 2016.
His appointment as such represents a remarkable rise up the ladder, being tapped to lead a mid-tier Australian management consulting division after less than a decade in the profession. Prior to making the career switch, Chua served as a transformation & organisational design project lead at Target, and was also previously the head of energy & sustainability at Coles.
Grant Thornton cited this experience in the retail coalface and in various operational roles as granting Chua with the capacity to see challenges as opportunities, specialising as a consultant in partnering with clients on their transformation programs and implementing operating models to ensure they can best achieve their commercial, customer, and people objectives.
“Our team is committed to continuous learning and engages with hands-on expertise to support clients in solving complex challenges, which is especially important in the current dynamic and changing market,” Chua said, adding; “I have worked closely with Jamie since starting my consulting journey, and having such a mentor and an expert in our national team is a privilege.”
