The Preston-headquartered firm, ranked at 45 in the Accountancy league table, saw 2016/17 turnover jump 9.2%, up from £14.2m the previous year.  In the same period staff numbers rose to 280, including the appointment of a new partner Jenny McCabe to join the 20 existing partners. The firm says it plans to take on 18 new trainees in September 2017.

Graham Gordon, managing partner of Moore and Smalley, said: ‘Our growth is linked to our desire to be the accountancy firm of choice in the north west. Brexit has thrown-up some uncertainty, but we have worked through it.

‘In these uncertain times, having trust in your professional advisers has never been more important. Through our international network, we’ve been able to advise more clients than ever before on overseas matters. This will be even more important as the full implications of Brexit become known.’

The firm has also seen strong growth in the domestic market, which it says was partly down to continued investment in its cloud accounting service SE+.

Gordon said: ‘Domestically, our membership of the MHA network means we’re gaining a foothold on the mid-tiered practices and winning larger clients. We’ve also continued investing in new technology, such as our cloud accounting service which is proving popular with small and medium-sized businesses.’

Moore and Smalley has offices in Preston, Blackpool, Lancaster, Kendal, Southport, Kirkby Lonsdale and East Midlands. In 2016 it also opened regional hubs in Manchester and Liverpool.