Bath accountancy firm Pearson May is this year celebrating its 175th year anniversary in the city. The firm recently hosted two glittering events for hundreds of clients and VIPs at the Roman Baths with drinks, canapés and entertainment.
The gatherings gave Pearson May the opportunity not only to thank clients but to reflect on its history.
Today, the respected firm of chartered accountants and tax advisers specialises in helping its clients build and retain their wealth. As well as its Great Pulteney Street head office it also has bases in Trowbridge and Chippenham.
However, it was all very different in early Victorian England. Pearson May can trace its origins back to 1841, the year Brunel completed his Great Western Railway in Bath and Queen Victoria was had been on the throne for just four years of her long reign.
The firm was founded by Mr H B Mundy and its first recorded offices were at 7 Trim Street with a quarterly rent of £5 and a bill of £1.10s 6d for coal to keep the ink wells from freezing.
From the outset, the practice offered a diverse range of professional services and Pearson May is still has one of the earlier text books entitled Elements of Book-keeping.
Mr Mundy himself described the firm’s core activity as “uniting knowledge of business with that of book-keeping”.
The firm thrived in the boom that followed the arrival of the railways and Mr Mundy quickly established himself at the centre of the city’s business community as an early secretary of the Bath Chamber of Commerce among others.
The firm continued to grow and to reinforce its reputation among owner-managed businesses, private clients and fellow professionals in and around the city and after a succession of eponymous partners and an important merger, the firm became Pearson May in 1974.
Partner Nick Oliver said: “Today we are proud to still act for some of the longest-established businesses and private clients in Bath – as well as some of the very newest.
“We remain at the forefront of change and, from our roots in Bath and West Wiltshire, we are pioneers in business and personal advisory services.
“The whole ethos of the firm is built around client care. We are more than just chartered accountants.”
Pictured, from left: Bath partners Nick Oliver, Jacqui Bowden and David Richards
