Profile
Arthur Merchant (Partner)
Arthur Merchant is the Lead Partner in our Hemel
Hempstead office, specialising in the public, charitable and not
for profit sectors.
Experience
Arthur joined us at Grant Thornton in 2007, following the merger
with RSM Robson Rhodes where he had worked since 1982. Until his
relocation to the South East in 1996, Arthur served as a committee
member for five years for St. Anne's Shelter and Housing Action. He
is a frequent lecturer for RSLs, the Housing Corporation and at
housing conferences and recently facilitated a housing group board
awayday on developing effective governance. He is a member of the
CIPFA Registered Social Landlord Panel and has recently completed a
term of office as Chair of RSM Robson Rhodes LLP's Supervisory
Board.
His principal responsibilities relate to the provision of
assurance and advisory services to Registered Social Landlords and
local authorities. Arthur has had national responsibility for
leading our work in social housing for the past 15 years. In that
time, we have secured over 100 additional internal and external
audit appointments in housing and increased our range of financial
management advisory services to the sector.
He leads as external audit partner on a range of housing
associations including Paradigm Housing Group, Origin Housing
Group,
Cottsway Housing Group and Notting Hill Housing Group and is the
lead internal audit partner for Abbeyfield Housing Society,
AmicusHorizon Group, Broxbourne Housing Association and Rosebery
Housing Association. Arthur's advisory work on social housing has
included:
- leading on the validation of over 15 business plans to support
local authority stock transfers;
- leading due diligence reviews for housing association
mergers/group structures;
- advising a major building society on its lending to the housing
sector;
- providing training and advice on risk management;
- membership of the Housing Corporation working party to devise
the framework for validating key performance indicators; and
- leading special investigations in respect of governance and
control issues.
Qualifications