Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) has announced that International Tax Partner, Kevin Mann, will retire from the firm at the end of March 2018.

Kevin has spent almost 9-years at AAB, specialising in providing international tax advice, specifically advising groups globally on all of the tax implications of working on international projects, including that of expatriate personnel. He is also a UK corporation tax and PAYE specialist, advising UK groups on all such aspects. His experience and expertise in the international tax arena has been invaluable to the success and growth of the international compliance and advisory services provided by AAB, a role which Kevin has passed onto AAB’s International Tax Director, Helen Brown, who re-joined the firm in October after spending time in industry, most recently as Head of UK and Africa Tax at Aker Solutions.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner commented “Kevin has passed on a wealth of knowledge and has played a key role in developing our international tax team which has grown significantly in terms of size, skillset and indeed the locations in which we work across the globe. He has been delighted to pass this role over to Helen Brown who will now head up our International Tax offering and continue to drive the growth and success of this division.

We will miss Kevin in the office day-to-day but look forward to continuing our relationship with him as a valued member of the AAB Alumni. We thank him for his huge contribution to the firm and wish him a very happy retirement.”

Kevin’s retirement will be celebrated with a Partners’ dinner and a staff party in March.

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading independent firm of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, has been named as the top dealmakers in Scotland for a 13th consecutive year, after being recognised by the Scottish Business Insider as the accountants having completed the most deals in Scotland each year from 2005 – 2017.

The Scottish Business Insider’s review of the Scottish deals market shows that AAB completed 45 transactions that were publically announced in 2017, 70% more than any other accountancy firm during the same period. Notable transactions in which AAB were involved in during 2017 included the management buy-out of metal recycling specialists John Lawrie Group supported by Rubicon Partners and Grovepoint, the disposal of timber kit manufacturer Scotframe Timber Engineering to the French trade acquirer Saint Gobain and acting on the behalf of Oil & Gas rental company Harran in their strategic collaboration with OEG.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance at AAB, said “We are delighted to be recognised as the top dealmakers in Scotland for a 13th consecutive year. This is a true testament to the continued exceptional support of our clients and contacts and the dedication of our talented team, who have adapted quickly to changing market dynamics.”

“With increased M&A activity in the Oil & Gas services sector, as well as greater activity in a variety of other sectors including Technology, Food & Drink, Leisure & Retail and Construction; we are excited to see what 2018 holds and how our strong pipeline of deals develop.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, has announced an extremely successful first year for their own Charity; The Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative (AABIE), with an incredible £70,000 of funding donated to 45 different charities and causes. In addition, AABIE has also donated over 1,250 hours of volunteering time to numerous charities across the City and Shire, including AAB staff being involved in 10 different education/mentoring programmes.

Launched in December 2016, AABIE is the platform which facilitates everyone at AAB to be able to invest in the communities in which they operate by seeking partnerships with charities and inviting applications from worthy causes for donations, grants and volunteer time. The volunteering time is delivered by AAB staff, who are all allocated a full day volunteer leave per annum.

Some of the charities who have benefited from AABIE funding include North East Sensory Services, who were able to fund a weekend residential trip for 10 children with visual and/or hearing impairments. AABIE also funded Spinal Research UK’s specialist research project on spinal repair, which is being undertaken at The University of Aberdeen and enabled Shazam Theatre Company to hire the Tivoli Theatre to perform Peter Pan last summer. In addition to sponsoring local football, hockey, netball and gymnastic groups.

Included in the 1,250 hours of volunteering time were AAB staff painting the tables and riding school at SSPCA, assisting in the café at VSA’s Easter Anguston Farm and helping in both the garden and an arts class at Linn Moor Residential School. The education initiatives AAB staff have been volunteering with include Career Ready, Leadership Academy at Transition Extreme and the University of Aberdeen’s Star Awards. In addition to this, the firm undertake their own activities with local primary and secondary schools, as well as the College and both Universities.

Graeme Allan, one of the AABIE Trustees commented “the trustees are absolutely delighted to see the incredible impact which has been made across our community in the first year of AABIE. The funds we have available for our grant donations are all raised by activities the staff at AAB undertake and it is fantastic to see how far their efforts can reach. Equally, we are thrilled to have been able to participate in so many worthy volunteering activities and are currently gearing up for our next year of volunteering which will be launching very soon.

We truly care about investing in the communities in which we operate and look forward to receiving more applications from worthy causes throughout our second year of grant rounds.

On behalf of the trustees I would like to thank the staff at AAB for their hard work in raising funds and giving their time but equally we would like to thank the local charities who have applied to AAB and opened us up to new relationships with so many wonderful causes and we are grateful to be able to play a small part in their continued success.”

 

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About Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP: AAB are one of the UK’s leading Chartered Accountants + Business Advisory Firms with a depth of capability, experience and resource to meet client’s needs locally, nationally and internationally. Through an extensive service offering, the team at AAB is focused on providing the services that client’s need, when they need them, to help them grow and improve your business. It’s not about AAB – it’s about their clients. By working with AAB, clients receive a personalised service geared to their business and delivered by a team of professionals seeking to add value. AAB’s purpose is to support their client’s ambitions through the Plus Factor, working in partnership with them to pioneer integrated advisory solutions.

About The Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative: The Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative (AABIE) was launched in 2016 and is the platform which facilitates all at AAB to be able to invest in the communities in which we operate. AABIE seeks partnership with charities and invites applications from worthy causes for donations and grants from the initiative. Through AABIE we also encourage our employees to use their time and skills to support local charities through projects and volunteering events. To focus and unite our efforts across AABi we adopted five key strategic themes for the initiative:

• Education
• Health & Wellbeing
• Community & Volunteering
• Fundraising
• Environment

AABIE is managed by a Board of Trustees, all of whom are current or former senior members of AAB’s leadership team, and is chaired by Sheena Anderson, one of the founding Partners of AAB (now retired). Each of the five strategic themes of the initiative are also supported by relevant teams and committees across AAB.

Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Scottish Charity No. SC046440

Nobody can claim to be an expert on Brexit, after all nobody knows exactly what will happen and when it will happen. In the business world this leaves companies with two options: to wait and see what happens and react accordingly, or to anticipate that there will be change, determine what the potential impact could be, understand what can we do now and in the following months to safeguard our businesses and ideally position ourselves to thrive.

The first option is at best ‘risky’, based on chance and therefore perhaps not the most credible option for many. The latter option brings a more proactive approach and whilst it will never be 100% perfect or achievable, we can apply what we know and what we have learned from similar situations to draw up a contingency action plan, or strategy, addressing the various risks involved.

On Thursday 8 March 2018 Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) are coming together with Fragomen LLP and the Visa Team to discuss these challenges and will present topics for debate on:

Observations and learnings from elsewhere

Bill Kane, Head of Consulting, AAB, will open the session with observations from the Scottish Independence Referendum and business contingency planning to that ‘unknown outcome’ compared to the reaction to Brexit. Even if the outcome is unknown are business owners willing to leave their futures to chance? Hope is not a Strategy.

EU immigration and status

Ian Robinson, Partner, Fragomen LLP, will talk through setting the policy process drawing on qualitative and quantitative research. Ian will demonstrate what businesses can do now, to absorb the shock of separation and reassure nervous employees and prospective hires.

Event Details

If you would like to join us to hear what Brexit might mean for your current and prospective employees, plus what you can do now to be ready for separation, you can book your place on Event Brite.

Date: Thursday 8 March 2018

Timings: Breakfast will be served from 7.30am, with presentations starting at 8.00am. The event will finish at 9.30am.

Location: Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP, Kingshill View, Prime Four Business Park, Kingswells, Aberdeen, AB15 8PU

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, has this year been a Best Company for eleven consecutive years, and has also secured a place on The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For List for three consecutive years.

Both the two-star Best Company award and securing the position of number 39 on The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For List have been achieved as a result of feedback from AAB employee’s responses to the Best Companies engagement survey, which examines the ins-and-outs of company life and reveals how employees really perceive their work environment.

AAB had an incredible response rate to the survey, which could be a result of the numerous ways in which the firm engages with its employees, as well as the exciting changes and developments which have occurred in the last twelve months. 2017 was an extremely busy year for AAB with a number of new service lines introduced, exciting growth being achieved in dedicated sector teams including E&P, Food & Drink and Healthcare, in addition to the firm expanding its global reach, resulting in new and exciting opportunities for the team. As well as this The Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative (AABi) has had a huge role to play in employee engagement at AAB, with an incredible amount of fundraising activities happening across the firm and a direct result of those activities meaning AABi was able to donate over £70,000 of grants to over 45 different charities and causes. In addition, AABi has also donated over 1,250 hours of volunteering time to numerous charities across the City and Shire, including AAB staff being involved in 10 different education/mentoring programmes. Through AABi, the firm also gives local charities the opportunity to be the firms’ “charity of the month” and raise awareness of their projects to AAB staff and visitors, as well as host learning sessions at AAB’s offices, for staff to attend.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner at AAB said “This is a fantastic achievement for everyone at our firm. We recognise that exceptional people are our greatest asset and strive to ensure that our employees are engaged, motivated, committed and ultimately empowered to be the best they can be. By doing this we ensure that they are happy and fulfilled in their own roles and as a result we are able to offer our clients the best possible service to meet their needs.”

Karen Stewart, Chief Human Resources Officer at AAB added “We are constantly searching for creative ways to grow our talent and reward our staff and are delighted to have received this award which is ultimately down to the ways in which our team feel about working with us. We call ourselves happy people at AAB and this award shows that our people truly are!”

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About Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP: AAB are one of the UK’s leading Chartered Accountants + Business Advisory Firms with a depth of capability, experience and resource to meet client’s needs locally, nationally and internationally. Through an extensive service offering, the team at AAB is focused on providing the services that client’s need, when they need them, to help them grow and improve your business. It’s not about AAB – it’s about their clients. By working with AAB, clients receive a personalised service geared to their business and delivered by a team of professionals seeking to add value. AAB’s purpose is to support their client’s ambitions through the Plus Factor, working in partnership with them to pioneer integrated advisory solutions.

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, is pleased to announce the appointment of Nicola Rollings as Restructuring Manager in their growing Restructuring & Recovery (R2) division.

Nicola, who specialises in corporate recovery, has a wealth of experience working in restructuring and recovery services with her career spanning over 13 years. She has significant experience of managing a varied portfolio of both corporate and personal cases, most recently as Restructuring Manager at Cowan & Partners in Edinburgh. Nicola graduated from the University of Abertay Dundee with an honours degree in Financial Services and is both JIEB and CPI qualified. She will be working in AAB’s Aberdeen office at Prime Four Business Park.

The AAB R2 team is now five strong with the firm having recently also appointed an apprentice trainee and have 50 ongoing projects throughout Scotland.

Neil Dempsey, Head of R2 commented “We are delighted to welcome Nicola to the firm, she is an excellent addition to our expanding R2 team and her knowledge and expertise will prove to be invaluable as we continue to grow our presence in the Scottish restructuring market.”

AAB, one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors in Scotland, is delighted to announce the successful completion of 52 deals during 2017, covering a range of sectors including Oil & Gas, Construction, Food & Drink, Technology, Retail and Support Services. It is the fourth successive year in which AAB have completed over 50 deals with the total deal value for AAB deals in 2017 being >£500m, up 50% on the prior year.

2017 in particular saw an increase in the number of Oil & Gas transactions, which rose from 15 to 21 in the period with greater market stability encouraging a more positive environment in which to undertake and conclude Merger & Acquisition (M&A) deals.

Notable transactions in which AAB were involved in during 2017 included the management buy-out of metal recycling specialists John Lawrie Group supported by Rubicon Partners and Grovepoint, the acquisition of online children gift retailer Mousehouse Gifts by Regency Hampers and the merger of facilities management firm Resolutions Ground Maintenance with Contract Solutions Grampian.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance at AAB, said, “We are delighted to have completed over 50 deals for the fourth consecutive year which is testament to our ability to adapt to the changing market dynamics to initiate and deliver transactions both across Scotland and further afield.”

Looking ahead to 2018, Martin commented, “It was very welcome to see increased M&A activity in the Oil & Gas services sector in the final quarter of 2017 and we are highly encouraged by the current strong pipeline of deals across the UK going into 2018.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors, has announced the launch of a new service which will assist businesses in their gender pay gap reporting requirements, whilst also giving them valuable insights into their business and helping achieve compliance requirements.

The team at AAB have created a data analytics dashboard which, at a glance, visually shows the key facts and data around the gender pay gap. This negates the need to review tables of values and excel spreadsheets, reducing the time businesses need to spend sourcing information as the data is taken directly from any payroll system. The dashboard provides all required information in a quick, simple and meaningful style for key stakeholders.

Businesses have until 5 April 2018 to report their gender pay gap data for the period to 5 April 2017. The results must be published on the employers own website and a government site, bringing information publicly available to customers, existing employees and potential future recruits.

The legislative requirements look for more than just the figures, with an explanatory report to be provided as a backdrop to the numbers. The narrative should generally explain the reasons for the results and give details on the actions being taken to reduce or eliminate any gender pay gap.

Steven Fraser, Director at AAB commented “we are pleased to be launching this new service and that through the dashboard we can assist businesses to become proactive in addressing this new legislative requirement. We believe that although there are compliance requirements around the gender pay gap, changes like this also present an opportunity for businesses to address and overcome what could potentially be a significant challenge in some organisations.

Not only does our solution provide an instant view of pay gap data, it also gives the ability to interrogate and drill down into data to provide a real insight into the analytical results. The data can be reviewed in real time, allowing businesses to monitor their current gender pay gap and how that has changed across time. This powerful information means that the data produced by the tool can influence management decisions and policy.”

A live and interactive demo of the AAB tool can be viewed here.

AAB one of the UK’s leading firms of Chartered Accountants + Business Advisors, has announced the appointment of Helen Brown as International Tax Director.

Helen, who trained with AAB qualifying as both a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser, now re-joins the firm having gained significant industry experience, most recently Aker Solutions. She brings extensive knowledge and experience of international tax and customs duties to AAB having been responsible for all taxes, including reporting, compliance, advisory and strategic tax matters.

Helen also led various training courses in-house on tax issues, a role which she will be continuing at AAB with the first of these courses, ‘Navigating International Tax for Companies Operating Overseas’, taking place on Tuesday 13 February 2018.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner, commented “We are delighted to welcome Helen back to the firm and are very pleased to have her on board. She brings a fantastic set of skills and experience to the team which further strengthens the diverse range of specialist services and advice we offer to our clients.”

Helen added “I am very happy to be back at AAB. The firm has grown significantly in a very short space of time and with so many more exciting opportunities in the pipeline, I am looking forward to my future with AAB as well as being part of the next stage in the firm’s development.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the UK’s leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers, is delighted to announce the successful completion of seven transactions during October 2017, covering a range of sectors including Oil & Gas, construction, food & drink, retail and support services, taking its total number of successful transactions to over 40 for the 10 months to October. The total deal value for AAB deals for the 10 months to October 2017 is >£400m, up 50% on the prior year.

The transactions completed in October included the disposal of Scotframe Timber Engineering (Scotframe) to the French trade acquirer Saint Gobain together with advising Harran in their strategic collaboration with OEG Offshore.

The acquisition of Scotframe, a leading closed panel systems and full timber kit framing manufacturer and supplier, further accelerates Saint Gobain’s growth and expertise in offsite manufacturing for construction markets.  Harran, the offshore aviation refuelling services specialist, is to collaborate with OEG Offshore resulting in a combined rental, product and service offering to enable each company’s customers to benefit from a wider range of equipment and services from their locations in the UK and worldwide.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance at AAB, said, “It has been an encouraging period of M&A deal activity and we are delighted to have seven deals reach a successful completion in October in a diverse range of sectors.”  Looking ahead, Martin commented, “We are keen to build on the positive momentum and have a strong pipeline of deals throughout Scotland and further afield for remainder of the year and into 2018 which is highly encouraging.”