The service is being rolled out to Baldwins’ 60 offices around the UK under the supervision of directors David Owens, James Hamilton and Tanya Wilson, who are looking to expand their existing team of seven forensic accountants to around 20 over the next three years.

Former forensic partner at BDO and PKF, James Hamilton will oversee the roll out of the services in the north region where Baldwins has 28 offices, and Tanya Wilson will be lead the practice across the 29 offices in the south region.

Wilson, who helped develop a forensic practice for KTS Owens Thomas prior to its acquisition by Baldwins in 2017, said: ‘Our forensic accounting service has grown steadily from our Cardiff base since it was formed in the mid-1990s to the point where we are receiving at least one new enquiry every day, and Baldwins’ national reach and resource means we can now begin to truly realise its potential.

‘A significant portion of our work comes from solicitors needing assistance with cases, so being able to establish a stronger, physical presence in cities with established legal markets will help the service to grow even further.’

Baldwins says it will provide a range of forensic services, including quantifying damages in civil litigation cases and valuing businesses on divorce, through to investigating alleged criminal activity such as fraud.

‘Our service is about trying to save on litigation costs by presenting credible financial evidence that avoids cases having to go to court – currently only 5% of the cases we deal with do go to court,’ Wilson said.

Report by Pat Sweet