Baldwins completes 14th acquisition in 12 months
Rowlands Accountants joins forces with Baldwins as firm makes 14th acquisition in 12 months
ROWLANDS ACCOUNTANTS, which has seven offices in Hexham, Ponteland, Portobello, Crook, Sunderland and Yarm together with Alnwick Accountants, will become part of the Baldwins Accountancy Group, which now has over 550 staff. The deal was supported by a funding package provided by HSBC.
It is the 14th transaction to have been completed by the group in the last 12 months and is part of its national strategic expansion plans for 2016.
Rowlands Accountants’ joining Baldwins takes its annual turnover to around £40m as well as bringing their expertise to the North East for the first time.
Eric Brannigan, senior partner at Rowlands Accountants said: “This move means we will be offering our wide range of clients even more services to aid the growth of their businesses whether they are a start-up, family-owned business or a blue-chip company.
“We both have the same core values and aspirations and a similar client base, which was an important factor for us in finding a suitable strategic partner to grow our business in the North East.
David Baldwin, director at Baldwins, said they were looking forward to bringing their expertise to a different part of the UK.
“Rowlands Accountants is one of the largest independent accountancy firms in the North East and bringing together two strong regional brands will prove beneficial in a number of ways,” he said.
“We will be adding new services to those currently provided by Rowlands Accountants including corporate finance, banking and payroll, and auto enrolment as well as enhancing its current specialist tax offerings.
The acquisition has also created a new national service line called Baldwins Restructuring & Insolvency, led by Rowlands Accountants’ head of insolvency Andrew Little. The service will be rolled out across all 26 offices in Baldwins, building on its established strong reputation in the North East.
“This is part of our detailed nationwide plan for growth in 2016 throughout the UK and means Baldwins Accountancy Group has a national network of 26 offices.”