Saltaire move brings a boost (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Accountants hit £20m income for the first time

7:54am Thursday 17th June 2010 in Business By Chris Holland

Moving back to Bradford and focusing a key part of its operation in Saltaire helped the Yorkshire practice of accountants Baker Tilly achieve fee income of £20m for the first time in the year to March 31.

The firm has three offices in Yorkshire, and is the only national accountancy firm with a base in the Bradford area.

The Leeds office is now Baker Tilly’s largest office outside London, and the firm employs 200 staff and 28 partners across the region.

Baker Tilly said it saw steady growth across a number of areas, and its return to Bradford through a merger with Howarth Clark Whitehill (Yorkshire) in 2008 played a key role in helping the firm increase market share during a challenging 12 months.

Also, the decision to combine its Bradford and Keighley operations into one office in Saltaire had contributed to business growth.

Richard King, office managing partner in Leeds and Saltaire, said: “Despite what was another difficult 12 months for the regional business community, we are continuing to reap the benefits of the merger with Howarth Clark Whitehill (Yorkshire) along with a number of office relocations.

“We have had a positive start to our new financial year. We have picked up a number of significant clients during the last month and there’s certainly been an uplift in the amount of transactional work. This is benefiting not only our corporate finance team, but our audit and tax departments.

“Times do however remain challenging.”