Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB) has announced that Sheena Anderson and Ishbel Sutherland will retire as Partners from the firm at the end of March 2016.

As one of the Founding Partners of AAB Sheena (pictured left below) has contributed significantly to the firm’s growth and development over the years. From a starting point of five personnel the firm now has 15 partners and over 250 staff working across 37 service lines. Sheena, a chartered accountant of over 30 years, specialised in tax most predominantly advising individuals, partnerships and family owned companies as Head of AAB’s Private Client Tax team.

Ishbel, who is also a chartered accountant, joined AAB in 1991 and has extensive experience in working with clients across a number of sectors, mostly in oil service. Her contribution as both an Audit Partner and the Partner in Charge of Accounting Services has been invaluable to the success of AAB so far, particularly in the growth of these two departments.

Both retirements will be celebrated with a partners’ dinner and a staff reception at the end of March.

Mike Brown, Senior Partner commented “We will miss Sheena and Ishbel in the day-to-day office life, however this does not mark the end of eithers relationship with the firm as we look forward to welcoming them back to various events as AAB Alumni. We thank them for their huge contribution to AAB and wish them a very happy retirement.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), Aberdeen’s largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants, has been named as the top dealmakers in Scotland in 2015 for the 11th consecutive year, after being recognised by the Scottish Business Insider as the accountants having completed the most deals in Scotland each year from 2005 – 2015.

The Scottish Business Insider’s review of the Scottish deals market shows that AAB completed 47 transactions in 2015, more than double any other accountancy firm during the same period. AAB’s 2015 deal activity was positively impacted by a significant increase in non oil & gas deals which accounted for 50% of all deals completed during the year. Deals completed in 2015 included advising the management team of Macduff Shellfish in the disposal to Clearwater Seafoods, the disposal of C21 Data Services to Recall and the investment in Keenan Recycling by Business Growth Fund (BGF).

Oil & gas services remained AAB’s most active sector in 2015 although transaction activity was reduced in light of extremely challenging market conditions. Oil & gas deals closed in 2015 included the disposal of Online Electronics to IK Group, the disposal of HVAC Refrigeration & Engineering to Oteac backed by Lonsdale Capital Partners and the acquisition by John Crane Group of XPD8 Solutions.

Douglas Martin, Corporate Finance Partner, said “We are delighted to be recognised as the top dealmakers in Scotland for an 11th consecutive year. 2015 was a difficult year for oil & gas services M&A activity but we continued to deliver strong deal flow and executed more transactions in 2015 than we did in 2014 due to a significant rise in non oil & gas deals. This fantastic milestone is testament to the hard work and dedication of our exceptionally talented team.”

In terms of the outlook for 2016, Martin commented “Our transaction successes during 2015 have been very positive and our current deals pipeline remains healthy particularly in the non oil & gas space. M&A activity in oil & gas services remains curtailed but the current market conditions does present good opportunities to buy quality assets at a sensible price for those who look beyond the short term outlook. We remain positive about our prospects in the year ahead given our superb market position and look forward to bringing more deals to fruition during the remainder of 2016.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Penman as Restructuring Manager in their newly established Restructuring & Recovery (R2) division.

Jennifer, who has over twenty years’ experience working in the field of restructuring, has a wealth of experience in dealing with various types of restructuring and insolvency procedures, covering both corporate and personal matters. Her strengths lie in compliance and legislation.

Neil Dempsey, Head of R2 commented “We are delighted to welcome Jennifer 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 look to enhance the R2 service offering and assist struggling businesses to return to health.”

AAB have over 250 people working in specialised teams across 37 service lines, all focused on working in partnership with clients to understand their ambitions and to help deliver them.

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, has been awarded a two-star accreditation from Best Companies, the employee engagement specialists, and simultaneously have secured themselves a place at number 52 in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For List.

The firm achieved its highest ever score on Best Companies’ survey, which examined the ins-and-outs of company life. The survey reveals how employees really perceive their work environment.

AAB had an exceptional response rate of 80.08% to the survey which could be attributed to the numerous ways in which the firm engages with its employees. The firm have dedicated sports, social and fundraising committees who organise various events for staff throughout the year and encourage staff to get involved with the firm by representing AAB in recruitment activities, participating in firm-wide initiatives, including sharing their ideas and suggestions for their new purpose-built office at Prime Four Business Park (move in date expected to be May 2016), in addition to feedback, lunch and learns, training and update sessions. As well as this, in 2015 the firm introduced a new internal communications platform to enable employees to communicate in real time, encouraging discussions, feedback, ideas and knowledge sharing across the firm and they also introduced their ‘happy people award’ – an award which acknowledges staff who go above and beyond their day job. Furthermore, the firm create personal training and development programmes tailored to each individual and provide them with the tools to develop themselves personally, going beyond their technical ability and out with their field of expertise to become all-round business advisors.

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 everyone at AAB has a role to play in our growth, development and success. That’s why taking care of our great team and keeping us all together is our priority and we are delighted to receive this well-earned accolade that acknowledges this.

Karen Stewart, Chief Human Resources Officer at AAB added “We have an unrelenting focus on innovation and operational improvement at AAB and I am proud that we never stand still through constantly searching for creative ways to grow our talent and reward our staff. It was particularly gratifying to discover through Best Companies that our staff believe in and live the values of our firm, see that they have a positive future with us and that they are proud to work for AAB. As a firm we have won a number of awards but to have this award, which is judged by our staff, is a huge success. We call ourselves happy people at AAB and this award shows that our people truly are!

Workplace happiness and engagement is an increasingly key factor for business success and by ensuring that our employees are engaged, motivated, committed and ultimately empowered to be the best they can be, we are able to offer our clients the best possible service to meet their needs.”

Jonathan Austin, CEO and Founder of Best Companies commented “I would like to congratulate AAB on their outstanding achievement. This year it is encouraging to see that more and more organisations are recognising the value of employee engagement and are willing to benchmark themselves against the best to ensure they are offering their employees the best possible experience. Organisations like AAB have continued to focus on their employees and have been rewarded with an engaged workforce who tell us that this is a great place to work.”

Since its conception in 1990, AAB has taken a proactive approach to taking care of its members of staff by always putting them at the centre of the firm, creating a culture which staff enjoy working in and building a business knowing that exceptional people are their greatest asset.

AAB have over 250 people working in specialised teams across 37 different service lines, all focused on working in partnership with clients to understand their ambitions and to help deliver them.

Find out more about life at AAB from our team members.

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, is pleased to announce the launch of a new Restructuring & Recovery division which will focus on providing restructuring and turnaround advisory services to SMEs.

The Restructuring & Recovery business unit will be headed up by Neil Dempsey, Head of Restructuring, who is a licensed Insolvency Practitioner and was previously Insolvency Director with Begbies Traynor in Aberdeen.

The Restructuring & Recovery offering will encompass the following:

• Restructuring – corporate restructuring, debt advisory, recapitalisations, refinancing and accelerated M&A.
• Recovery – turnaround advisory, independent business reviews, creditor negotiations, working capital management, cashflow forecasting, profit improvement and cost savings plans.
• Insolvency – company voluntary arrangements, administration, receivership and liquidation.
• Solvent winding up of limited companies.

Douglas Martin, Partner, commented “Neil is an excellent addition to our Leadership Team at AAB and brings tremendous experience and expertise to our firm. The new Restructuring division is a natural complement to the wide range of advisory solutions provided by AAB and will allow us to provide additional financial support to SMEs facing difficult times.”

Neil Dempsey added “I am hugely excited at the prospect of joining AAB and by leveraging my knowledge with the firm’s extensive base of clients and contacts believe we can develop Restructuring & Recovery into a leading player in the restructuring market in Aberdeen. 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, Restructuring & Recovery allows AAB to provide detailed professional advice to businesses at all stages of their business cycle.”

AAB have over 250 people working in specialised teams across 37 different service lines, all focused on working in partnership with clients to understand their ambitions and to help deliver them.

A2+B LLP’s Integrated Employment Solutions (IES) team has been successful for the fourth year running at the annual UK-wide Payroll World Awards 2015 having received the Specialist Payroll Provider Award.

This award acknowledged the success of innovative client service for specialist or niche markets and for A2+B this included a number of significant projects undertaken by the IES team, bringing together integrated solutions across payroll, HR, accounting, tax, business processes and management information.

Steven Fraser, Head of Integrated Employment Solutions (IES), commented “We pride ourselves on our ability to provide innovative business solutions and an all-round approach to employment related matters for clients and we are delighted to have achieved this award, which is a testament to these commitments. It is fantastic that the dedication and expertise of our hard working team has received national recognition and is particularly gratifying that we won against some of the strongest competitors in the country. I am really proud of our team and that the high service standards which we set ourselves have been acknowledged in this way.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown Wealth Ltd (AAB Wealth), one of the leading independent financial planning firms in the UK, is delighted to announce that Simon Glazier, a Chartered Financial Planner of their team based in Aberdeen, has been named as The Personal Finance Society’s 2015 Chartered Financial Planner of the Year.

Launched in 2009 the Personal Finance Society’s Chartered Awards recognise the positive contribution that Chartered status is making to the reputation of financial planning as a trusted and valued profession. The Chartered Financial Planner of the Year award recognises an individual who has demonstrated superior ability across a broad range of professional skills and an extraordinary commitment to the advancement of their profession.

Simon, a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and who has been with AAB Wealth since the firm was formed back in 2011, commented “I am delighted, yet truly humbled to have been awarded this title and have to thank my team at AAB Wealth for supporting and encouraging me through the whole awards process. I would also like to thank my clients as it is them, and my desire to become their trusted adviser whilst developing long-lasting relationships with them, which has given me inspiration to strive for even higher standards and provide a first-class service.”

Jonathan Gibson, Director of Wealth Services at AAB Wealth added, “We are all thrilled here at AAB Wealth for Simon and are pleased that his commitment to the financial services industry, technical ability and exceptional level of client service has been highlighted in this manner. The team at AAB Wealth is one of the most qualified in Scotland and it is fantastic that the efforts and successes of one of our experienced and committed Chartered Financial Planners are being viewed positively by independent bodies. Congratulations Simon and very well deserved!”

AAB Wealth was also shortlisted for the firm award 2015 Chartered Financial Planners of the Year. To find out more about AAB Wealth click here.

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants, welcomed Annabelle Ewing, the Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment, to their office in Aberdeen yesterday.

On her visit to AAB, Ms Ewing was taken on a tour of the office to meet a number of young people working in the different service and support teams across the firm. AAB participates in a number of youth employment initiatives and Ms Ewing met individuals undertaking various training programmes. AAB has also recently pledged their support to the P&J’s Apprentice 100 Campaign pledging to recruit at least one more young person this year.

Ms Ewing ended her visit by presenting the Investors in Young People Gold Award to AAB’s most recent apprentice working in their Internal Finance team, Laura Tan, and Jade Anderson, who started at AAB as an Office Junior when she was 17 and is now the firm’s Assistant Finance Manager, responsible for the training and development of her own apprentice, Laura.

Annabelle Ewing, Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment, said: “I am very pleased to present AAB with their Investors in Young People Gold award. The staff here have shown that they can offer opportunities to enter the company at different levels – through work experience, placements, internships, from school or through a graduate scheme. That is a testament to the talent in place here to train the workforce, but also an appreciation of the value of having the in house expertise to develop careers and gain professional qualifications. The variety of work done by the company and the number of awards it has won shows that this approach is certainly paying off.”

Karen Stewart, Chief Human Resources Officer at AAB commented, “We were delighted to welcome Annabelle Ewing to our office and to be given the opportunity to showcase our very talented team. We are incredibly proud of our young people and the various training programmes which we offer to enable them to build a fulfilling and progressive professional career with us and really do see this area of our recruitment initiatives as a significant one which will create the leaders of our future. This year has been fantastic for our youth employment initiatives and activities at AAB as we have recruited a record number of young people with 20 graduates, placement students and school leavers joining our firm and undertaking our various training programmes. Achieving the Investors in Young People Gold Award and inviting Ms Ewing to visit us has really cemented the recognition which we have achieved for our commitment to training and developing young people. We would like to thank Ms Ewing for taking the time to visit AAB to find out more about our firm and our incredible young people.”

The Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment’s interest in visiting AAB stemmed from the firm’s commitment to introducing young people to the world of work and giving them the opportunity to develop their careers, which she was made aware of when AAB were awarded the Investors in Young People Good Practice Award earlier this year, since then AAB became the first accountancy firm in Scotland to achieve the Investors in Young People Gold Award – the highest people management standard that focuses on an employer’s recruitment and retention of young people.

AAB have over 250 people working in specialised teams across 25 different service lines, all focused on working in partnership with clients to understand their ambitions and to help deliver them.

Pictured below is Annabelle Ewing presenting the Investors in Young People Gold Award to Jade Anderson and Laura Tan of AAB, and a number of other photos from Annabelle’s visit yesterday.

Yesterday we were delighted to hand over our cheque for cash donations received whilst fundraising for The Archie Foundation – this reached over £2,500 from various activities including selling strawberries and rhubarb, playing bingo, inter-company rowing challenge, sponsoring our Managing Partner Graeme Allan to wear the Archie suit at our annual staff day out and various other sporting events. In addition to this we also raised a further £1,856 for The Archie Foundation by members of staff participating in the 2015 RTN Cycle Challenge and Abseiling 60ft down Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, so total raised is £4,357.

The firm also participated in the Team Health Challenge, Urban Navigation and the Highland Games with Activity Mix.

Karen Stewart, Chief Human Resources Officer at AAB commented: “Our staff have had a fantastic time taking part in a variety of events and initiatives to raise money for The Archie Foundation. It has been great fun and extremely rewarding doing what we can to help such a worthwhile charity which does so much throughout the north-east of Scotland.”

Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP (AAB), one of the leading independent firms of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, is now a WorkflowMax certified advisor and one of the first to become such in Scotland.

WorkflowMax, owned by Xero accounting software, is a subscription and cloud based job management software program that enables service businesses to manage jobs more easily. WorkflowMax is particularly suitable for service businesses that track time or raise sales invoices based on time as well as businesses that need to allocate costs to specific jobs and monitor job performance. Xero and WorkflowMax provide a first class integrated cloud based accountancy solution, accessible anywhere at anytime, that is easy to use and allows clients to get a better understanding of how their business is performing. AAB are also a Xero Partner.

Steve Mitchell, Accounting Services Director at AAB commented “We are delighted that we are now a WorkflowMax certified advisor, it is a fantastic system which is helping our clients stay in control and manage their business more effectively. An increasing number of our clients have implemented Xero software since we became certified last year and are already seeing the benefits of having readily access to real time financial information. The first-class integration between WorkflowMax and Xero meant that it was the natural next step for us to become WorkflowMax certified.

We are always looking for ways to help improve our clients businesses and software such as these enables us to work collaboratively with them through cloud software which is really helping to revolutionise how we help clients manage their finances.”

AAB have over 250 people working in specialised teams across 25 different service lines, all focused on working in partnership with clients to understand their ambitions and to help deliver them.

 

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