GreySpark Reviews

3.5

63% would recommend to a friend

(45 total reviews)
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Frederic Ponzo

70% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

GreySpark has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 45 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The GreySpark employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Finance industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

45 reviews
5.0
18 Oct 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Leadership: the founding partners are terrific and very motivating to work with. I worked closely with Andrew (ex-head of HK) who supported me throughout my time there - he is very personable, consultative and always approachable with any stupid questions I had. I thought the Managing Partner of the firm was inspiring. Highly entrepreneurial, and open to new ideas. Together with the other partners, they know how to empower people having founded the firm from scratch with little resources. Have enormous respect for them. - Strong work ethic: they do not cut corners. There is a strong emphasis on excellence and hard work as part of the GreySpark DNA. Their reputation is second to none - Entrepreneurial values: if you have a good idea, you can speak directly to the MD and if it makes sense he will take it on board. As someone who is always looking for opportunities, I found this particularly empowering and refreshing given my background in IB. - Career opportunities: They want to grow and they are not ashamed of it. I have seen people move cities and cross over to partnership in my time there. Pretty impressive for a company that started in 2009. Leadership opportunities: They structure their business practices in groups (they call them pods) which allows managers to take ownership over their teams PnL. Practice managers are given a lot of autonomy as to how they manage and pitch their business and they become the best motivators for the consultants that work for there. No BS: There is no political BS at GreySpark. They are very careful with who they hire which preserves the fun loving and family-like culture that is GreySpark

Cons

Every firm has its cons, but nothing materially stands out. Great company to work for.

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GreySpark Response
7y
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. I am glad to see that you have found in GreySpark a place where you have been able to learn, progress and also enjoy. This is the kind of environment that the partners of the firm dreamed of building almost a decade ago and strive to maintain. I also want to thank you for your indomitable positive energy in the face of challenges than most people would have found daunting. I am also extremely pleased to see you achieving all the success you deserve. It is been a great honour and pleasure to be in your team.
1.0
3 July 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The company is on its way to liquidation. If you have a choice between killing yourself or working here, my only advice is 1 minute of pain is better than an eternity of suffering.

Cons

This company is a complete joke, if you have recently applied don't waste your time. Honestly find something else. The partners are imbeciles and they are happy to interview and waste your time when they have no current projects in the pipeline. They are likely to offer you a job after 3 long interview rounds and then rescind your offer when they realize they can't afford to pay you. Office location is really bad, good chance you could get mugged on your way home when it starts to get dark. Bermondsey (Millwall) is not worse place on earth but not an ideal office location.

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GreySpark Response
7y
First of all, thank you for your review and advice. However, several of your comments appear to be factually wrong. First, no-one can call herself/himself a "Former Employee - FinTech Analyst" as: - this job title never existed in GreySpark - all the members of the FinTech Strategy Team are still accounted for and busy working on projects Also, our head office is located in the London Bridge area, at the end of Bermondsey Street (as can be checked on googlemaps). It is a short 10-min walk from London Bridge station and located in a vibrant and up-in-coming part of London. According to the Metropolitan Police (https://www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/), the likelihood of being mugged in this area is about half of what it is the Strand & Whitehall area. However, two things are absolutely true about this firm: 1 - we look for and hire individuals with talent (sometimes raw) and potential. We then dedicate care, money, time and effort to allow these individuals to develop into true leaders 2 - nobody has ever worked for GreySpark because she or he had to. People work for GreySpark because they choose to. As a consequence, the individuals who find a passion for consulting in financial services, and who keep up with the pace of a very demanding industry, will rise to senior management positions and even partner in a fewer number of years than in any other firm like ours. On the other hand, when GreySpark is no longer the place where someone aspires to be in the long term, she or he can take with her or him all the training, the skills, the knowledge, the experience and the relationships built during their time at GreySpark and use these assets to succeed anywhere she or he chooses to go. We are very proud of our colleagues who continue to be the leaders that GreySpark had a part in them becoming. GreySpark alumni: - have started their own businesses and several FinTech companies - joined and hold management positions in the most prestigious financial institutions - head trade associations and think-thanks - joined and hold management positions in the most prestigious consulting firms
1.0
7 Dec 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I had to type some words here as its a requirement but there is absolutely nothing positive about this company.

Cons

No work life balance, no opportunity for advancement, low salary, no training, no vision, management clueless. If you want to ruin your career this is the place for you. If you have ambitions in life, they will welcome open arms just to crush your dreams. A burial ground for aspirations. Please stay away from this place.

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GreySpark Response
10y
Thanks for the feedback - I'm guessing it is either a long time since you left or that you may not have seen the training plans (internal or external) that we offer - BCS, IOC, CFA, Prince2 etc. to name a few. These are mandatory at some levels so I am not sure how you missed them. As I hope has become clear on these pages, we run an entrepreneurial business - if you have ambition and a plan to follow it up, we assist this into reality. Not sure what you mean by dead wood - our retention is very high, as is the quality of our people. If you truly were disappointed in the first week and did not mention anything on how you wanted to develop or use the GreySpark resources at your disposal, that is a shame - in your current role my advice would be to make that clear early on this time. Two things are repeated throughout the recruitment process and until the last day somebody decides to be part of the GReySpark team: 1 - GreySpark looks for and hires individuals with talent (sometimes raw) and potential. We then dedicate care, money, time and effort to allow these individuals to develop into true leaders 2 - Nobody has ever worked for GreySpark because she or he had to. People work for GreySpark because they choose to. As a consequence, the individuals who find a passion for consulting in financial services, and who keep up with the pace of a very demanding industry, will rise to senior management positions and even partner in a fewer number of years than in any other firm like ours. On the other hand, when GreySpark is no longer the place where someone aspires to be in the long term, she or he can take with her or him all the training, the skills, the knowledge, the experience and the relationships built during their time at GreySpark and use these assets to succeed anywhere she or he chooses to go. You should be very proud, as I and all the Partners are, of your former colleagues who continue to be the leaders that GreySpark had a part in them becoming. GreySpark alumni: - have started their own businesses and several FinTech companies - joined and hold management positions in the most prestigious financial institutions - head trade associations and think-thanks - joined and hold management positions in the most prestigious consulting firms
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