AAB has announced the appointment of Derek Mair as Head of Food & Drink. Derek, a Partner, brings together AAB’s extensive experience working with a diversity of businesses across the Food & Drink sector as well as in the associated rural markets with a focus on increasing market share in this exciting growth sector.

With increasing numbers of new start-up Food & Drink businesses specialising in artisan and craft produce, AAB has experienced increased demand in services ranging from business planning, financial modelling, fundraising and mergers & acquisitions to payroll, audit & accounting, tax and international advice.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner at AAB commented “we have experienced strong growth in this sector in the last 2 years by winning a number of new clients and supporting our existing clients achieve their growth ambitions. With Derek’s appointment, we are confident that our success and reputation in this sector will continue to grow. His focus and expertise will be invaluable as we strive to be the go-to firm for Scottish Food & Drink businesses.”

Derek added “Scotland’s target to more than double the turnover in the Food & Drink sector to £30bn by 2030 reflects the scale of the growth opportunity as well as the importance of this market to our economy. It is helping to drive the creation of new exciting Scottish businesses that quickly gain international interest and credibility due to widespread recognition of origin and quality.

Our comprehensive knowledge of and passion for the sector combined with the extensive range of services we can provide means that we can genuinely add value to businesses as they establish and face growth challenges in the market.”

The Partners are delighted to announce the promotion of four members of their Management Team to Senior Manager positions.

After undertaking a year-long university placement at AAB Jonathan Clark re-joined the firm as a graduate trainee in 2007, initially working in the audit department. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2010, Jonathan then joined the Corporate Finance team where he now works with a diverse range of clients with a focus on acquisitions, disposals, due diligence, valuations and growth fund-raising.

Callum Gray also joined the firm in 2007 as a graduate trainee and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2012. Working alongside Jonathan in the Corporate Finance team, Callum’s focus is on the delivery and execution of acquisitions, disposals, MBO/Is, debt and equity refinancing and valuations. He has played a significant role in the execution of several high-profile deals in recent years.

Graeme Penman trained with AAB after joining the firm as a graduate in 2008, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2011. Graeme is responsible for the organisation and supervision of audits across a wide range of industries, with his clients within these industries ranging from owner managed businesses to international groups. He is also a member of AAB’s Charity Services team, providing training to other members of this specialist team.

As a member of the firm’s Audit team, Stuart Rose, who joined the firm in 2008, is responsible for supervising audit engagements for clients across a number of industries including construction, oil & gas, hospitality and retail. Additionally, Stuart has delivered a number of specialist projects for AAB, including overseeing the implementation of an employee share scheme.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner, commented “each of these promotions are very well deserved and demonstrate not only the excellent development opportunities we offer as a firm, but also the broad range of specialist skills that we continue to develop within our team.”

The firm has announced the promotion of Steve Mitchell to Partner. Steve, who heads up the firm’s Accounting Services, Outsourcing and Management Information Solutions Divisions, joined AAB seven years ago after gaining a wealth of experience in professional practice in the areas of accounting, audit and corporate finance. He was promoted to Director in 2015 and one of his main areas of focus has been the introduction of cloud-based software solutions for clients.

Steve’s appointment follows a period of substantial growth in AAB’s Outsourcing Division where the team has seen a significant increase in the number of clients with international businesses coming to the UK, from countries including Norway, USA, UAE, Italy, Mexico, Australia and Russia, as well as those setting up overseas. Under Steve’s leadership, AAB now has hundreds of clients working in partnership with them via cloud-based solutions which offer businesses the opportunity to gain real-time information on their key business metrics, from anywhere in the world, at any time.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner commented, “Steve has made a significant contribution to the firm since he joined and has been instrumental in the development of our accounting and outsourcing divisions. His appointment is very well deserved and is key to the continuing prosperity of our firm as Steve will also now head up our management information solutions team following Mike Brown’s retirement.”

Steve added “We see a number of excellent growth opportunities across the accounting, outsourcing and management information solutions teams and I look forward to working with clients and contacts to pursue these in my new role.”

Mike Brown will retire from the firm at the end of March 2017. He has been the face of AAB and his leadership, vision and determination has been the driving force behind much of the firm’s growth and diversification.

For the majority of his time at AAB, Mike led the hugely successful Corporate Finance Team and was chosen as Scottish Business Insider’s Dealmaker of the Year in 2008 and in 2015 received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award at the Deals & Dealmakers’ Awards.

In 2016 he was presented with the Elevator Lifetime Achievement Award and in presenting the award, Steve Cook, Chairman of Elevator said “Mike Brown has demonstrated a devotion to his profession second to none and has given a lot to the business community in the North East.”

Mike’s retirement marks the end of an era as he is the last of the three founding partners to retire. AAB’s Managing Partner, Graeme Allan, commented “Mike has passed on a wealth of knowledge and shared his experience with all of us at AAB. We have learned so much from him and he will be missed in the office day-to-day. That said, Mike’s relationship with the firm will continue as he becomes part of our alumni and he will of course remain a close ally of the firm. We wish him a very happy and well deserved retirement.”

Mike added “It’s been a brilliant 26 years and I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most talented and fun people in the market. I’ve enjoyed wonderful support from my Partners, staff and clients, thank you. Our firm is in good hands and has a bright future and will go on to enjoy even more success.”

Mike’s retirement will be celebrated with a Partners’ dinner, an evening for clients and contacts and a staff party.

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, has this year been a Best Company for 10 consecutive years. During that time the firm has progressed from ‘one-to-watch’ to this year achieving the top three-star accreditation whilst also securing a place on The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For List for the second consecutive year. AAB first featured on The Sunday Times listing in 2016 where they placed at number 52. 2017 saw further improvement with AAB placing at number 35.

Both of these achievements were defined from AAB employee’s responses to questions within the Best Companies engagement survey, which examines the ins-and-outs of company life and reveals how employees really perceive their work environment.

The firm achieved its highest ever score on the Best Companies’ survey, which is a result of the numerous different ways in which the firm engages with its employees. 2016 was a particularly busy year for AAB and included the exciting relocation of the firms offices to a new purpose-built complex at Prime Four Business Park which has enhanced opportunities for team work and collaboration across the office (as well as plenty of events being held for staff to get involved with) and the launch of several new diverse services which has given staff the opportunity to increase their knowledge and experience in specialist areas. In addition, during 2016 AAB launched the Anderson Anderson & Brown Charitable Initiative (AABIE) which brings together all of the ways in which everyone at AAB invests in the communities in which they operate. AABIE focuses on the five key areas of:- education, health and wellbeing, community and volunteering, fundraising and the environment. Since the launch staff have undertaken a day of volunteer leave with charities of their choosing and have engaged in numerous fundraising activities. There have also been plenty of sports and social events held throughout the year which staff at AAB have been involved with.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner at AAB said “this is an outstanding achievement for our entire firm and we are delighted to have achieved the highest accreditation from Best Companies and be listed on The Sunday Times list for the second consecutive year. These accolades are purely because of our staff and how they feel about life at AAB and so it is humbling to know that we have created a firm where people are genuinely happy, engaged and feel valued.”

Karen Stewart, Chief Human Resources Officer added “we are constantly looking for new and creative ways to engage with our staff whilst also ensuring that they are achieving their full potential. Life at AAB is much more than what goes on in the office day-to-day and we are really proud of the fact that our staff also believe this and that they live the values of our firm and are proud to work for AAB.”

Commenting on both awards, Jonathan Austin, CEO and Founder of Best Companies said “The Best Companies three-star accreditation status represents extraordinary levels of engagement. Congratulations on the improvement from last year – it’s a great success which shows your organisation truly values you and it’s a real cause for celebration.”

Ian McPherson has been appointed Head of Upstream Oil & Gas services. Ian is a Director in AAB and heads their John F Daly Associates business which provides a range of specialist audit services to the upstream oil & gas industry. AAB strategically acquired the John F Daly business in 2014 and have since seen considerable development in their suite of services to E&P companies to meet growing client demand.

Ian’s appointment follows a period of substantial growth in the North Sea and international E&P sector for AAB. The firm now works with over 50 upstream clients and has a wider team of 30 E&P experts across their suite of specialist services. The E&P team has worked on projects in more than 20 countries in the last 3 years.

AAB now provide an extensive offering to E&P companies ranging from joint venture and contract audits to outsourced accounting, global payroll and mobility services, corporate benefits, management consulting and tax structuring in addition to private client and wealth management advice to individuals working within E&P companies.

Graeme Allan, Managing Partner at AAB, commented “Whilst the E&P business environment has been extremely challenging in the last few years we have been very successful in winning new clients across the majority of our core service lines. We now look forward with huge optimism that we can significantly grow our E&P offering on the back of Ian’s appointment and the implementation of a focussed growth strategy targeted at the upstream industry”.

Ian added “We have been working in partnership with E&P companies on some very exciting opportunities across the globe since we acquired the John Daly business and I am very much looking forward to further developing our E&P business in my new role. We have built considerable upstream expertise across our business and are in a great position to further increase our market share in E&P”.

AAB sponsored Patrick Young (aged 15) won the Scottish Indoor under 18 Tennis championship at the beginning of the year and followed this by coming 3rd in the Stewart Milne Group Men’s North East Indoor Championships, losing to Jonathan Lints in the semi-final. Notable successes from 2016 were winning the David Lloyd Aberdeen Men’s Club Championships, the Montrose Men’s Club champs, winner of a 16U grade 3 event in Milngavie, winner of Rubislaw Men’s Grand Prix.

In November 2016, Patrick played men’s county cup for the North of Scotland for the first time and plays in the 18U event at the end of February. In a busy February he also has the men’s Scottish Indoor event and an under 16 grade 2 tournament at Gosling on the outskirts of London.

Well done Patrick and good luck for the rest of the competitions!

AAB one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, is delighted to announce the successful completion of 50 deals during 2016 for the third successful year.

The contribution from transactions outwith the oil & gas sector was more prominent in 2016 (70%) reflecting the difficult conditions for doing deals in oil & gas during the period. Transactions in which AAB were involved in 2016 included the disposal of Maritime Assurance & Consulting to Bureau Veritas, the disposal of Sengs Subsea Engineering Solutions (“SENGS”) to Pryme Group and the acquisition of Optocap Holdings by TUV Nord.

Douglas Martin, Head of Corporate Finance at AAB, said, “We are delighted to have completed 50 deals in each of the last three years especially given the challenging oil & gas market conditions affecting M&A activity in 2016. However, we continue to deliver strong deal flow and are pleased to have been involved in a record number of non-Oil & Gas deals during 2016”

Looking ahead to 2017, Martin commented, “We had a strong finish to 2016 and keen to build on that momentum. Our deals pipeline remains very positive for non-oil & gas opportunities and we are seeing some encouraging signs in oil & gas with an increasing number of larger trade players and private equity houses looking more closely at opportunities. The challenge in oil & gas at the moment of course is reaching price equilibrium between buyers and sellers but we did see a pick-up in activity in Q4 2016 and are confident this will continue into 2017”.

The Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) North East Scotland team are delighted to announce another Gold Quality Accreditation has been awarded this week to Aberdeen-based accountancy firm, Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) for their employability programmes!

Founded over 26 years ago, AAB are committed to developing young people and, as a result, have a large intake of placement students, graduates, school leavers and interns every year.

Several employability programmes are available at AAB, which are all tailored to suit individual needs.

Jessica Middleton, Human Resources Advisor at AAB said; “We are absolutely delighted to receive this award. We are incredibly proud of the various training programmes and career opportunities on offer to young people and invest heavily in developing relationships with schools, colleges and universities across the region to ensure that we, as an employer of choice for young people, play our part in providing learning, training and work opportunities for young people.

This is a fantastic result for our firm and we are thrilled that such an award can demonstrate the true commitment we hold to the training and development of young people.”

In 2015, AAB became the first accountancy firm to be Investors in Young People accredited for their work and dedication to promoting employment for young people. AAB were also one of the first employers to support the Press & Journal’s ‘Apprentice 100’ campaign during 2015, and were also voted by their staff on to the ‘Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For’ list, at number 52, in 2016.

Furthermore, AAB are authorised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) to train students, and are an approved training practice for ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). Students receive first class training and have access to a varied client database to help accelerate their business learning and develop client relationship and communication skills.

Manager of DYW North East, Rachel Elliott, said; “AAB is a business that embraces the training and development of young people throughout its operations.

We are delighted to award AAB with gold level accreditation as they have demonstrated that their programmes inspire their future workforce and also develops young people’s skills for a successful career in accountancy, tax and other related services.

In addition, AAB’s commitment to developing the skills of young people have a benefit to the business itself, with high levels of staff loyalty.”

AAB have formalised and structured processes and handbooks in place for each of the employability programmes they offer to young people in the North East. Each programme has been tailored with young people in mind, and ensures that a suitable support and training framework is in place for all.

Established in 2012 by Murray Kerr, SengS is an Ellon based engineering company providing subsea engineering design consultancy, equipment testing and assembly, repair and refurbishment and rental of certain subsea equipment.

Pryme, which is majority owned by Simmons Private Equity, offers a one-stop, turnkey service for global contract manufacturing, combining high quality machining with design capability, hydraulic services, fabrication skills, assembly and test and project management.

The acquisition of SengS enhances Pryme by bringing engineering design, specialist testing and assembly services to the group, another step in its strategy of developing a full outsourced manufacturing service for its customers.

Murray Kerr, managing director of SengS, said: “Partnering with Pryme will allow SengS to continue to grow through expanding its capability offering for its current customers and providing access to new customers and sectors. I look forward working with the Pryme management team and Board as we continue to grow the group”.

Anderson Anderson & Brown Corporate Finance acted as advisors to Murray Kerr, shareholder of SengS in the disposal to Pryme.