Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, is pleased to announce that Duncan Raggett has been accredited as a licensed Insolvency Practitioner (IP).

Raggett, who has been JIEB qualified since 2015, shall accept insolvency appointments with immediate effect and in this new role will lead the firm’s growing Restructuring & Recovery team across its Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices. The Restructuring & Recovery division are currently working on over 30 ongoing projects throughout Scotland which span their key services of restructuring, recovery, insolvency and the solvent winding up of limited companies.

Raggett, who joined AAB from BDO in 2018, has a wealth of experience in the restructuring, recovery and insolvency arena having spent over 16 years managing a varied portfolio of both corporate and personal cases.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance at AAB commented “We are delighted that Duncan has taken on this new role within our Restructuring & Recovery team. His appointment demonstrates our commitment to providing a comprehensive and expert restructuring service across Scotland. Duncan’s knowledge and expertise will prove to be invaluable as the Restructuring & Recovery division continues to expand in line with the firm’s wider growth aspirations.”

Duncan Raggett added “I am looking forward to playing my part in continuing to leading our expanding Restructuring & Recovery team and growing our presence in the Scottish restructuring market in my new role. With a focus on assisting struggling businesses to return to health and identifying critical issues to avoid business failure, but with the ability to use insolvency processes to deal with more critical problems, the Restructuring & Recovery offering allows AAB to provide detailed professional advice to businesses at all stages of their business cycle.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in the UK, is delighted to announce the successful completion of a record 70 transactions during 2019, with a combined total deal value exceeding £500m.

AAB’s deal activity during 2019 covers a range of sectors including energy (upstream E&P & oilfield services), food & drink, construction, technology, healthcare & education and business services. Some of AAB’s key M&A highlights during 2019 include the management buy-out of Arjowiggins Creative Papers, DC Thomson Media’s acquisition of PSP Media, the merger of Inspire Catering with CH&Co’s Scottish operations, Waldorf’s acquisition of Endeavour Energy’s UK assets, the disposal of Apollo Offshore to Global Energy Group and the disposal of Motion Software to Jonas Software.

AAB has significantly increased its focus on deal activity in the Central Belt following its Edinburgh office launch in June 2018 and the Central Belt deals team, led by Lyn Calder, is rapidly growing following the completion of 20 deals across the Central Belt during 2019.  A number of key appointments have been made to the deals team during 2019, with the most recent addition being Adam Cassidy, who joins AAB from Ryecroft Glenton in Newcastle.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance at AAB, said, “This is an exciting time for us as we continue to build our presence across Scotland and we are delighted to have hit a new milestone with the completion of 70 deals in a year for the first time.  This achievement is a clear testament to the team’s continued drive, ability and entrepreneurial spirit to initiate and deliver transactions across Scotland and further afield.”

Following significant growth over the last 12 months, Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisors, has promoted 58 members of staff at its Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices.

This impressive number highlights the firm’s significant investment in its talent, with promotions to the senior management team accounting for nine of the moves: Matthew Allan (Audit), Hilary Dyson (Cloud Accounting), Nicola Rollings (Restructuring & Recovery), Vikki Venerus (Wealth Management), Stephen Lawie (Software & Systems), Lisa Smith (Business Advisory), Katy Thomson (Corporate Tax), Fiona Sewell (Audit) and Richard Petrie (Corporate Benefits).

As well as acknowledging the skills and contributions of these individuals, the promotions strengthen AAB’s plans to reach its ambitious growth targets through new opportunities in traditional and specialist services, expanding its client base both in the UK and across the globe from offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London.

Managing partner, Graeme Allan, said: “As AAB continues to grow, we strive to work in complete partnership with our clients. These promotions demonstrate that we have specialist skills to provide unrivalled awesome service. It also shows our dedication to career progression across the firm which is one of the key reasons we attract and retain top talent.

“These AAB promotions are extremely well deserved and recognise the skill and expertise of each individual. I am confident they will all play an important role in our efforts to further enhance our service delivery while meeting clients’ demands and needs.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, has announced the appointment of Partner Derek Gemmell to Head of Innovations Tax.

As Head of Innovations Tax, Derek, who has been a with the firm for eleven years, will play a leading role in continuing to develop and grow AAB’s specialist Research & Development (‘R&D’) Tax Relief and Patent Box (‘PB’) services. The firm’s dedicated innovations tax team seek to maximise the tax reliefs available to businesses undertaking R&D expenditure and have a strong track record in agreeing successful R&D claims with HMRC; securing £10million of tax savings for clients in the last three years alone. The team also utilise the available PB reliefs in order to reduce the effective tax rate on commercial transactions.

Neil Dinnes, Head of Corporate & International Tax said “Derek has extensive knowledge of various specialist tax services and significant experience of being able to identify where these unique tax rules can apply. Delivering solutions for clients in this area culminated in this richly deserved appointment to Head of Innovations Tax. He is a superb fit for this new role and I am confident that his drive and vision for ‘innovation’ will not only continue to positively impact our clients, but will also contribute towards this specialist team playing their part in the ambitious growth plans across the AAB Group.”

Commenting on his appointment Derek added “I am delighted to take on this role and work closely with the fantastic innovations tax team we have here at AAB. We have achieved some significant results for our clients in this space, and are now looking to develop this further by growing our offering. A common misunderstanding is that these reliefs only apply to pure scientific research in a lab, which is not the case. We help businesses who are carrying out R&D a number of different areas including design, engineering and software where their activity also qualifies for the relief. This is just one of the challenges we see our clients facing, as gaining access to the relief is notoriously complex and requires a specialist advisor to guide them through the process.

I am looking forward to continuing to deliver results for clients, driving awesome service with the team, growing our offering and being able to capitalise on new opportunities across the UK.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP, one of the leading independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisors in the UK, sponsors of The Robert Gordon University Best Final Year Student in Accounting and Finance BA (Hons), has awarded the 2019 prize to Laura Kaczmarek.

Laura, a placement student at AAB during her third year of university, achieved a first class honours degree and was awarded the Best Overall Student 2019 ICAS Prize in two subjects. Laura also received the newly introduced RGU Head of School Award for achieving ‘A’ Grades in all of her final year modules.

John Black, Partner, commented “We have sponsored the Best Final Year Student annual award since its introduction in 1997 and continue to be very impressed with the high standard of candidates graduating from this degree course and Laura is certainly no exception.”

AAB, one of the UK’s leading independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisors, has reported a substantial uplift in demand for its services in the upstream Exploration & Production (E&P) sector. 

AAB has won more than £800,000 of new business in 2019 so far, with the current trend for North Sea assets and businesses changing ownership showing no signs of abating.

AAB’s proactive approach to staying in tune with new market entrants and emerging businesses in the North Sea has seen them corner the market in E&P business transition projects and recurring work in the past three years.

In fact, E&P business transition wins now account for more than a third of the total AAB E&P sector budget in the current financial year, highlighting its ongoing growth potential.

AAB’s business transition services include payroll transfer, set-up and management, accounting support including IFRS conversion, financial support and reporting, joint venture support, systems support and full virtual outsourcing solutions.

Made up of more than 40 highly trained members of staff, the AAB E&P team also includes specialist associates from their wholly owned joint venture audit business John F Daly Associates.

Alasdair Green, Head of E&P Strategy commented: “Traditionally AAB is very well known for delivering accountancy and business advisory services in the oil services sector. In recent years, however, we spotted that the E&P sector has significant growth potential to the firm. As a result, it now accounts for more than 20% of our oil and gas revenues, and we believe we can grow our share of the E&P sector even further both in the UK and overseas. It is especially encouraging for us to secure high quality new clients in the North Sea, as we continue this exciting phase of changing ownership.”

AAB, one of the UK’s leading independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisors, has been recognised as the most active dealmakers in Scotland in the first half of 2019.

The firm’s corporate finance team has been named by the Scottish Business Insider as the accountants having completed the most deals in the six-month period from January to June 2019, topping their league tables with 21 completed deals. Recognition of the volume of deal activity delivered by AAB through topping the league tables is something the firm has achieved in each of the previous 14 years from 2005-2018.

The 21 deals completed by AAB have spanned a number of different sectors across Scotland, including oil & gas, food & drink, technology, construction, healthcare and business services. Some of the deals publicised include DC Thomson Media’s acquisition of PSP Media, the disposal of Rainbow Services to Grosvenor Health and Social Care, the merger of Inspire Catering with CH&Co’s Scottish operations, the disposal of Apollo Offshore to Global Energy Group and the disposal of Independent Oilfield Services to WellConnection Group.

Douglas Martin, head of corporate finance at AAB, commented: “The Scottish Business Insider deals tables are a great benchmark of the scale of deal activity occurring across Scotland, and we are delighted that our highly entrepreneurial team continues to be recognised as the most active accountants amongst the deal-making community.

“Our team’s commitment to initiating and delivering deals for our clients is outstanding and we are grateful to our clients who continue to trust us with these important transactions, and for the support we receive from our contacts across Scotland and further afield. We have invested heavily in our growing and dynamic team in recent months and it is an exciting time for us as they continue to pursue and create deal opportunities in our key markets across Scotland.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading independent firms of chartered accountants and business advisors, has announced that its dedicated Business Advisory Group team has secured £1 million of new business wins during 2019 so far.

A flurry of new business wins by the team has resulted in this rise in fee income from last year and means it is on target to achieve 20% of the overall AAB group income of £26 million for the 2019/20 financial year.

AAB’s Business Advisory Group team includes experts from the firm’s Office of the CFO, specialist cloud accounting, business advisory services and private client tax teams. It was established to develop and streamline a technology driven service to a diverse range of clients. These clients typically need assistance from all four areas of the expertise but each of them has different requirements. By bringing this knowledge together into one team, and focusing on using technology at the forefront of our client service delivery, they can provide a collaborative all-round service.

The team of 50 is headed-up by partner Derek Mitchell along with fellow partners Chris Masson and Robbie Gordon.

Derek Mitchell commented: “It has been an exceptionally busy time for AAB’s Business Advisory Group team and it is fantastic to see that reflected not only in the increased fee income but also from the feedback and amplified engagement we are receiving from clients. This interconnected approach improves our clients’ experience and ultimately makes their lives easier through seamless communication. We are excited about the future of the team and its role in the continuing AAB growth story.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP, one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in the UK, sponsors of North East Scotland College (NESCOL) Best Student in Accounting and Finance, has awarded the 2019 prize to Taylor Brown, Lauren White and Arina Buketova.

The three winners excelled academically throughout the year, achieving top marks in their end of year exams. First year winners Taylor and Lauren are continuing their studies at NESCOL, with views of achieving their HND. While second year winner Arina, having already achieved her HND, is hoping to start working practice soon.

Stuart Petrie, Director commented “This is the first year have sponsored this award and we are delighted to support these exceptional students and recognise their fantastic achievements.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, is delighted to announce that the firm has been selected as a finalist in the 2019 Business Insider Deals & Dealmakers Awards, in the category of ‘Corporate Finance Team of the Year’. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Glasgow on 30 August 2019.

The Deals & Dealmakers Awards acknowledge and reward excellence in corporate finance transactions, recognising the bankers, venture capitalists, lawyers and accountants who initiate, structure and negotiate deals for growing organisations. The awards are based on deals completed by this community in the fiscal year 2018/19.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance commented “we are delighted to be shortlisted for these prestigious dealmakers awards. Our team completed a number of high profile deals over the year across key market sectors including energy, food & drink, technology and construction. It is fantastic to be recognised for the team’s achievements in this space as well as our team’s growth from our Aberdeen HQ into the Central Belt of Scotland which has been a tremendous success.”