The acquisition of mid-tier accounting firm Harris Lipman contributed to 20% growth at Menzies LLP, which saw the firm retain its ranking in the top 20 league table, as results for the year to 31 June 2016 show
The southern-based firm’s turnover hit £40m, with underlying growth of 6%, primarily driven by advisory and consultancy services, the firm said, although it would not provide a breakdown of revenue by service lines.
In the latest Accountancy Top 75 survey, Menzies appeared 20th with a fee income of £34m in 2015 between 38 partners.
Managing partner Julie Adams noted clients are increasingly seeking ‘a single solutions provider to cater for their business needs and not only from an accountancy perspective’.
As a result, she said, the role of ‘non-accountants’ has become more important to the firm, particularly in its payroll and HR offering.
Adams also identified international work as another key component in in the firm’s results.
‘We’ve been a member of our international organisation [HLB] for about the last five years, but now we’re really well entrenched in it,’ she told CCH Daily. ‘It’s inward and outward referrals, and the outward referrals are as important to us because we would not maintain clients or win clients if we didn’t have that ability to work with overseas clients.
‘The network isn’t just a directory for us. We spend time and money building these relationships so we know we’re referring to people we know. As a result of that we’re also getting the inward referrals, particularly US based.’
There are no firm plans for further acquisitions, Adams told CCH Daily, although she admitted the firm is ‘always talking’.
‘We’re not just looking to buy turnover,’ she said. ‘It’s got to bring something to the party, which might be geographical reach, a specialist skillset we haven’t got or succession. It has to meet certain criteria.’
On the Harris Lipman acquisition, Adams said the first year had ‘generally gone pretty well’, but acknowledged ‘cultural challenges’ that ‘take a little time to change’.
‘We put the two insolvency teams together and that’s gone really well,’ she said. ‘We did that a year ago straight away. It’s been quite positive.’
The firm has increased the headcount by a third with more than 100 recruits, including 37 trainees.
