Post-deal, the full leadership team and all 42 partners remain in place and committed to the business. Ade Cheatham will continue as CEO to lead the business forward with the current leadership team.

Sources close to the deal put the investment from the Dutch private equity firm at around £100m, giving Cooper Parry the ability to grow the business rapidly. Negotiations with Waterland started last November.

Cooper Parry has set out an ambitious organic and acquisition expansion plan with the objective of growing the firm’s annual revenue by five-fold by 2027. The firm reported fee income of £50m for year end 2021 and is ranked in the top 20 in the annual Accountancy Daily Top 75 Firms survey, and has over 475 staff and five UK offices.