Corporate recovery firm Begbies Traynor has launched a specialist forensic service in the Midlands. BTG Forensic will be headed by Martin Long, a former RSM Robson Rhodes and Grant Thornton partner in Birmingham. Begbies Traynor regional managing partner John Kelly said: 'We frequently find ourselves asked to provide expert witness and litigation specialist support to our clients and intermediary contacts. 'Coupled with the growth in regulatory compliance, the increase in fraud activity and the fact that forensic accounting skills are very much integral to our recovery teams, it was inevitable that we would bring forensic accounting within our service offering in the Midlands.' BTG Forensic also has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester and Plymouth. Long said: 'Begbies Traynor Group differs from the other large accounting firms in that it is corporate recovery led and has no audit practice, which minimises the risk of independence conflicts.'