Two regional accountancy firms with offices in Bath have moved up a prestigious national league table for the sector.
Bishop Fleming, which operates Bath’s largest accountants’ office, has risen by one place from 30th to 29th in the Accountancy Age Top 50+50 rankings while MHA Monahans also moved up one slot, from 58 to 57.
The table, which is based on the firms’ fee income, is published each year by Accountancy Age and regarded as one of the definitive lists of the UK’s leading accountancy firms.
Bishop Fleming has been one of the fastest-growing accountants in the country over recent years. The firm, which also has offices in Bristol, Exeter, Torquay, Plymouth, Truro and Worcester, broke into the table’s top 30 for the first time last year.
Its latest financial results, for the 12 months to May 27, show turnover increased by nearly 6% through organic growth to £23.62m. Income per partner came in at £810,000.
Managing partner Andrew Sandiford, pictured right, said: “Our ascension in the rankings to 29th reflects our ever-strengthening team and is recognition of how we help our clients to achieve their full potential. Our business growth enables us to continually invest in new talent to expand our team even further.
“Despite uncertainty over Brexit, Bishop Fleming has continued to experience rapid growth in demand for our services across all sectors. The firm is set to expand even further with the forthcoming digital tax revolution and other key issues including Big Data analytics.”
Bishop Fleming was also recently recognised for its ‘exceptional’ service to clients by Investor in Customers, earning it Gold status. The firm, which has 29 partners and more than 340 staff, is also ranked 26th in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For.
MHA Monahans, which employs 15 partners and 190 staff across its offices in Bath, Trowbridge, Chippenham, Melksham, Frome, Glastonbury, Swindon and Taunton, grew its fee income by 19.6% to £12.48m, according to the Accountancy Age table.
It has expanded rapidly on the back of the two acquisitions in two months it made either side of Christmas 2016. The deals with Taunton firm BJ DixonWalsh and Bath and Melksham-based O’Hara Wood increased the its geographic spread and brought new income streams to the firm.
MHA Monahans managing partner Simon Tombs, pictured left, said: “Climbing the table to position 57 recognises the success of our commitment to concentrate on delivering a personal service to our clients. We are proud to have a dedicated team of colleagues who understand the value of good service and relationships.
“We continue to demonstrate an agile approach which allows us to adapt to the changing needs of our clients and add services which meet the increasing demands of a digital tax age. Clients will remain at the centre of all that we do, as we continue to expand our team of specialists to meet the growing demand.”
National firm Moore Stephens, which has an office in Bath, stayed at number 9 in the Accountancy Age table despite a 9% increase in fee income to £197.7m. None of the top 14 firms changed position in the rankings, which is dominated by the ‘big four’ international giants PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG.
