North East accountancy firm Tait Walker has been acquired by a national rival in a move described by its managing partner as a "wonderful opportunity".
The multimillion-pound deal means Azets, which already runs eight offices across the region and is part of the Azets Group operating across Europe, will add Tait Walker's five offices in the North East and Cumbria to its network.
Azets says 4,000 Tait Walker clients will now benefit from current and future investment in technology, including tools to enable real-time business advice. It is the third acquisition in four months for Azets.
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Andrew Moorby, managing partner at Tait Walker, said: "This is a wonderful opportunity for Tait Walker and our clients, and the acquisition demonstrates our commitment to the continued growth of our business, as we enter the next phase of our long and successful journey as part of the UK’s newest Top 10 accounting firm. Azets is a business which shares our clear focus on people and clients – it is the perfect fit both strategically and culturally.
“Tait Walker has a long-standing reputation for delivering service excellence to businesses across the North East. As part of Azets, existing and new SME clients will benefit from an even broader set of specialist expertise, as they continue to drive forward the UK’s economic recovery.”
Gosforth-based Tait Walker has grown to become one of the region's largest independent accountancy practices and also runs a wealth management service, authorised to provide regulated activities by the FCA, which expands Azets’ UK Wealth Management service into the North for the first time.
Last year the firm - which also runs offices in Stockton, Morpeth, Durham and Carlisle - reported revenue of £13m and operating profit of £3.36m.
Chris Horne, group CEO of Azets, which supports some 120,000 clients across its network of over 165 offices in the UK and Nordics, said: "We’re excited to welcome Tait Walker to the Azets family; this firm has a reputation for high-quality people providing first class client service. The acquisition is another significant step on our growth journey to increase revenue by 50% in the next five years, following quickly on from our recent acquisitions of Garbutt + Elliott in Yorkshire and Inspire Accountants in Poole.
"Tait Walker is established among the leading accounting and business advisory firms in the North East, with a long heritage of excellence and a broad capability across accountancy and business advisory services.
“Azets offers trusted, business critical advice, compliance and outsourcing services to ambitious companies and business owners. Tait Walker Wealth Management is a logical and valuable add on as we work to provide our clients with more advice that will improve their businesses and their lives.”
Peter Gallanagh, regional CEO for the North at Azets UK, added: "We believe strongly in the local delivery of personalised client services, whilst giving businesses in the North East the opportunity to benefit from our breadth, depth, and experience as an SME focused international accounting, tax, audit, advisory and business services group. Tait Walker has a strong regional reputation for its personable approach and specialist expertise which, combined with Azets’ local and international reach, opens up a wealth of opportunities for our clients.”
