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Practice news: Two Sheffield firms merge

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28th Nov 2013
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A round-up of significant executive moves, announcements and other developments from the world of practice during November 2013. 

Two Sheffield firms merge

28 November - Two independent Sheffield-based chartered accounting firms, Holmes Widlake and Hawsons, have merged.

The deal means the Holmes Widlake team of seven staff have now joined Hawsons at their offices in Broomhill in Sheffield.

Martyn Weatherall, a senior partner at Hawsons, said: “At Hawsons we have always focused on providing our clients with advice of the highest quality and we fully intend to extend this to our new clients.

“These new clients will also be able to benefit from the wide range of specialists we have and we look forward to working together to help them achieve success.”

Trevor Holmes, the former MD Holmes Widlake who will join Hawsons in a consultancy role, said: “This is the right time for us to merge with Hawsons, who are a highly respected firm and share the same ethos in providing clients with an expert, yet friendly and personal service.

Hawsons was formed in Sheffield nearly 160 years ago and has branches in Sheffield, Doncaster and Northampton. Holmes Widlake was established in the city in 1807.

The HLB International network member has developed a specialist structure designed to provide a positive and individual service to clients, with specific departments including audit and advisory, corporate finance, IT services, outsourced services, taxation and wealth management.

* * *

BDO planning for double growth in 2014

28 November - BDO has revealed in its annual results that it achieved 10% growth in 2012/13 and that it was planning to double that to 20% growth for 2013/14.

According to the results, the merger with PKF boosted its turnover by 10% last year with underlying profits up 6%.

The firm’s core plan now is to achieve further growth, which won’t rely on them needing to do another deal, but will include the recruitment of 500 new staff over the course of the upcoming year.

Simon Michaels, managing partner at BDO, said: "We successfully delivered a proactive and strategic merger this year, giving us first mover advantage in the mid-tier consolidation. We have created one financially strong business with an ambitious appetite for growth and the capability to lead the mid market.” 

* * *

KPMG boosts tax and pensions practice

27 November - KPMG has hired two new partners and six senior hires for its UK tax and pensions practice.

The further partner promotions are Harinder Soor in the capital allowances team and Paul McCartney in the private equity team.

Mark Albright has joined the transfer pricing team from UBS, Carol Johnson is joining the intellectual property team from HMRC, and Kevin King has joined the legal services team from Skadden.

James Magrath and Mike Lavan have joined from Big Four rival EY, and will join the corporate tax south practice and the employment taxes team respectively

Nadezhda Maltseva is also joining the private client team as a director on secondment from KPMG Russia.

KPMG UK Head of Tax and Pensions, Jane McCormick, said: “These hires and promotions add significantly to the strength and depth of our practice.  Tax remains a complex issue for businesses.  Understanding the rules and ensuring full compliance is crucially important and we are facing increased demand from clients for technical expertise.  We look forward to integrating our new colleagues with our existing teams and to making further strategic hires and promotions in the future.”

* * *

New tax team for Alexander Sloan

25 Nov - The firm has bolstered its tax team with the appointment of three ex Big Four employees. 

The firm, which has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, has spent the last few months assembling its new tax team.

Ewen Scott, tax, managing partner and head of the team, said: "This is a far stronger collection of talent than the firm has had previously and I am delighted to put such expertise at the disposal of our clients.

The new members of Scott's team include:

Colin Bain, tax manager, who joined  directly from KPMG where he was a corporate tax manager.

Mhairi Lees, tax supervisor, came to Alexander Sloan from Tesco Bank and had previously been with KPMG on the personal tax side.

Marie Blue, tax assistant, who also worked with KPMG and had been with a smaller accountancy practice before transferring to Alexander Sloan.

* * *

FRP Advisory hires partner to London office

25 Nov - Michael Healy, formerly of Barclays and Leonard Curtis, joins the team in London as partner. 

Healy has 22 years of business advisory restructuring experience and worked for eight years at Barclays, two at Levy Gee and six years at RSM Robson Rhodes, until he joined Leonard Curtis in 2007.

His appointment follows those of Geoff Carton-Kelly and Tony Wright both as partners in London. Overall, the firm has now hired ten partners over the past 22 months, with a total team of over 180 staff.

* * *

BDO appoints senior director to M&A team 

21 Nov - Susan Walker, formerly of Fox-Davies Capital and KPMG corporate finance, joins the mergers and acquisitions team in London. 

Walker has experience in plc advisory and capital markets, and will focus on developing this side of the M&A practice.

She spent 17 years at KPMG corporate finance and has advised on a number of high-profile transactions including San Leon's £64m offer for Aurelian Oil & Gas. 

During her time at KPMG, Walker advised on eight IPO's with a combined market capitalisation of around £1.5bn.

John Stephan, M&A Partner at BDO LLP, said he was delighted to announce the appointment. 

"This important hire will enable us to continue to offer the highest quality service in capital markets related work and will also complement our advice on private equity and owner managed business M&A transactions," he said.

* * *

EY and KPMG merge Denmark operations

20 Nov -The two Big Four firms signed an agreement last week to combine their operations in Denmark under EY's name. 

The joint new company will become part of EY's Nordic organization.

The merger must be approved by the relevant competition authorities, EY said in a statement on its website. 

Both companies will continue to run as normal until the agreement is approved. 

Erik Mamelund, regional managing partner for EY Nordics said the agreement built on "EY and KPMG's strong capabilities."

* * *

EY expands into Canary Wharf

20 Nov - The Big Four firm recently signed a deal to move 4,000 staff into the new premises. 

It agreed terms with Canary Wharf Group last week on leasing prime space at 25 Churchill Place to supplement their offices at London Bridge. 

The firm will be the second in the area, following KPMG's move to the vicinity in 2010.

* * *

EY poaches KPMG partner 

14 Nov - The Former head of KPMG's private client tax practice will join EY as partner in 2014. 

David Kilshaw will join the Big Four firm's private client team to grow the firm's family office business in the UK. 

He will work alongside three other partners in the team, John Cooney, Caspar Noble and Carolyn Steppler. 

John Dixon, EY’s head of tax in the UK and Ireland said Kilshaw would be a "real asset" to its private client tax team in the UK.

"As well as growing our family office practice, he will take an active role in developing and mentoring new talent coming through the team. We have ambitions to grow the tax business significantly, and it’s imperative that we have the best people at the helm and coming through every level of the organisation," he said. 

* * *

Wilkins Kennedy acquires CW Fellowes 

13 Nov -The top 25 firm has acquired the firm with offices in London, Southampton and Portsmouth.

This is one of the largest mergers in £31m turnover firm Wilkins Kennedy's 130-year history. As a result, the firm has added to new offices to their existing 13, in Southampton and Portsmouth.

It now has over 500 staff, bringing nine directors and 70 staff from CW Fellowes. 

Adam Wilson, managing director at CW Fellowes, said: "Merging with Wilkins Kennedy offers our clients new service lines, including VAT and corporate finance specialist departments, and offers a greater London presence for our private clients based there, as well as increased opportunities for our staff as part of a larger firm." 

* * *

Milsted Langdon acquires second firm in six months 

11 Nov - The Bristol-based triple Practice Excellence Award winning firm acquired local practice David Cottrell & Co on 1 November.

The latest move follows a merger with Bristol practice Geoff Gollop & Co in June.

Members of staff from David Cottrell & Co have moved from Westbury-on-Trym into Milsted Langdon’s offices at One Redcliff Street. Cottrell himself, who will be retiring in the coming years, will continue in a consultancy role at the firm.

* * *

Adler Shine appoints new tax director 

11 Nov - The firm has appointed Mitch Young, winner of the 'rising star' award at this years' Taxation Awards, as tax director. 

Before joining the firm, Young was head of tax at a private practice, and began his career in tax at a top 20 firm. 

He has had a focus on guiding and advising in the SME sector, in particular on entrepreneurial personal taxation services in areas of private client, family and wealth tax planning.

In his new role, Young will be responsible for the continuing business development of the Adler Shine's specialist tax team and in overseeing our staff training and development.

"I am thrilled to have joined a first class practice in Adler Shine, and that I can be part of the clear strategy for the firm and look forward to making a contribution at a very high level," Young said. 

* * *

KPMG to create 330 jobs in Ireland 

11 Nov - The Big Four firm will add staff to its audit, tax and advisory departments in the Ireland in 2014.

It will fill a range of 60 senior and 270 graduate trainee positions in Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Galway. 

Managing partner Shaun Murphy said that signs of domestic growth in Ireland had led to increased demand for KPMG's services. 

“Signs of recovery are good and strong client demand in many areas means that we are looking to fill roles in the audit, tax and advisory areas of our business,” he said.

KPMG employs 1,900 people in Ireland and takes on around 270 graduates each year as part of its graduate trainee programme.

* * *

Mazars adds three to tax team

11 Nov - The firm has hired a partner and two directors to its London office, including two former HMRC employees.

Tori Magill was appointed to the role of director of tax investigations, after spending 13 years with the Revenue, working on high profile fraud and avoidance investigations, heading up thte Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility team.

Magill was a group leader in HMRC's specialist investigations directorate, responsible for HMRC's investigations into the most complex and high profile fraud and avoidance investigations and litigation 

The firm is bringing a second former HMRC recruit into the fold, with the hire of Tony Monger, former Revenue inspector and investigation team leader. He worked for 25 years at HMRC and has worked within PwC's tax investigation practice and as head of direct tax investigations for Irwin Mitchell. 

In addition to this, he has also owned his own practice in the South West and Wales and has worked with Deloitte's national tax investigation and dispute resolution group.

David Prestwich joins as corporate tax partner and will head up the London tax practice. He has spent 10 years with KPMG prior to joining Mazars and will focus on large corporates and international business.

* * *

Francis Clark recruits seven new staff 

10 Nov - The firm's Taunton office welcomed seven new faces to its team recently. 

Helen Hayward and Indiana Perry join the business services department as trainees, and Chris Jackson joins the corporate services department as audit and accounts senior. 

Ruth Warren joins the support team as a secretary and will also provide marketing support to the office's three partners.

The office has recently relocated to Blackbrook Business Park and holds the partners and 31 additional staff. 

Partner Martin Lock said said he is pleased the firm's Taunton relocation has enabled its growth.

"I am delighted that we have been able to create seven new jobs as a result of this growth and that these roles encompass both senior positions, managers and trainees," he said. 

* * *

Kingston Smith appoints new managing partner

7 Nov - The firm has appointed Julie Walsh as its new managing partner. 

Walsh succeeded Sir Michael Snyder from 1 November, who will continue in his role as senior partner.

She has been a partner with the firm since 1987, and will remain head of the professional firms sector group and continues to act for current clients. 

"I am delighted to take on this exciting role as managing partner," she said. "Working with Michael and the other members of the executive board, I look forward to leading the firm to further success in this challenging and dynamic business environment."

In addition, an executive board has been appointed, including Martin Muirhead, Maureen Penfold, Tim Stovold, Jon Sutcliffe and Graham Tyler.

* * *

Partnership changes for Reeves

5 Nov -The firm has reshuffled its management team, and appointed current managing partner Clive Stevens as its executive chairman.

Stevens spent 18 years as managing partner at the firm and succeeds David Ashman as executive chairman at the start of 2014.

He will continue to represent the firm internationally as a board director at Kreston International, the firm’s global accounting network, and to act as an ICAEW council member.

Stevens said: "On behalf of the partners I would like to thank David for all his work for the partnership as chairman and for his wise counsel over many years – his contribution to the firm has been significant."

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