Grant Thornton appoints new leaders for retail, energy and mining
Grant Thornton has appointed Kirsten Ridgway, Kate Bonner, and Will Kendall as the new national leaders for its retail, energy, and mining practices.
Ridgway has been with Grant Thornton in Melbourne since 2022 after time in senior roles at MECCA and Coles, while office colleague Bonner first joined as a graduate in 2009. Kendall meanwhile crossed from Thiess in Brisbane at the end of 2024.
The Australian firm’s latest senior appointments follow its sale to US-based private equity-backed Grant Thornton Advisors for a reported $800 million after months of deliberation, with the juggernaut breakaway now boasting over 35,000 staff worldwide.
“Kirsten, Will, and Kate each bring strong sector insight, client understanding, and collaborative energy to their roles,” said Grant Thornton CMO and head of industry, Fraser McNaughton. “These appointments will help us connect the depth of Grant Thornton’s capability around the issues that matter most to our clients, while continuing to build momentum across priority markets.”
Kirsten Ridgway
Elevated to partner at the end of last year and taking over from Wi Liem Chua, Ridgway has been with Grant Thornton in Melbourne since 2019 after previously serving for over a decade in senior supply chain, marketing, and merchandising roles between MECCA and Coles, before which she spent two years as a business analyst at Accenture following a business degree at Monash.
“The pace of change across retail and consumer products continues to accelerate,” Ridgway said. “Businesses are balancing evolving customer expectations, margin pressures, and the need to build more resilient operations, and I’m looking forward to working with our teams and clients nationally to help them respond to these challenges and create sustainable growth.”
Kate Bonner
Also Melbourne-based, Bonner takes on the newly-split energy & renewables role (Tom Williams previously oversaw energy & resources) after first joining the firm in 2009 on the back of a business degree from UTS and then being made an audit & assurance partner in mid-2024, with time also spent in Grant Thornton’s offices in Sydney, London, and New York.
Will Kendall
The other half of that split leadership role, Kendall becomes mining & mining services leader after joining Grant Thornton in Brisbane at the end of 2024 following seven and a half years in senior strategy and growth roles at mining company Thiess. He has also spent time in senior mining and investment roles in Sydney, Singapore, and Jakarta across his two and a half decade career.
“The mining sector continues to play a critical role in Australia’s economy, with businesses balancing growth opportunities against increasing expectations around productivity, sustainability and capital discipline,” Kendall said. “I’m looking forward to working with our clients and teams to bring practical, sector-specific insight to the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry.”
