A HISTORIC Glasgow accountancy firm has embarked on a new acquisition strategy as it looks to build its client base in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector.
Wylie & Bisset, whose history stretches back more than 300 years, has taken over the business and clients of McLellan Harris, the long-standing practice run by accountancy veteran Bob Harris.
The deal is the first of several Wylie & Bisset, which has clients in the corporate, education and housing sectors, hopes to conclude as it pursues a strategy based on organic growth and expansion through acquisitions.
The plans are being spearheaded by the firm’s joint managing partners Donald McKinnon and Ross McLauchlan, who led an 18-month internal restructure which put the new growth strategy in place. A major focus is now on driving growth in the SME sector, with an approach to acquisitions centred on taking over other practices and hiring talented accountancy professionals.
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The firm has also recently made a series of internal promotions, including Catherine Livingstone becoming director with responsibility for supporting its growing client base of owner-managed businesses. Three managers have also been appointed to the firm’s corporate department: Eilidh Templeton, Sandy Hogg and Rory McCall.
Mr McLauchlan, who like Mr McKinnon has worked for Wylie & Bisset for more than 20 years, said: “The acquisition of McLellan Harris is part of a bigger picture insofar as we are actively considering other acquisition opportunities while looking to continue to grow the business organically. The deal, which does not involve any transfer of staff, came about through an informal meeting when Bob Harris, who happened to train me on tax when I undertook my CA training in the 1980s, mentioned his plans for retirement to our senior partner.”
He added: “[We are] looking at possible acquisitions. We have definitely got our eye out there looking for things.”
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Asked how close the firm was to concluding further deals, Mr McKinnon noted: “These things don’t happen overnight.
“We have been looking at two or three businesses [and] are obviously pleased the McLellan Harris one has come off.
“Ross and I are also looking at one or two key individuals, rather than businesses, who could also enhance Wylie & Bisset’s growth potential. We are very much a business that is keen to grow and develop.”
The firm, which turned over £6.9 million in its most recent financial year, is aiming to expand at a time when Brexit uncertainty is forcing many firms to put plans and investment decisions on hold.
Mr McLauchlan acknowledged that the current impasse is creating headaches for firms which import and export, such as whisky distillers, which are worried about hold-ups at borders.
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But he said: “To me it is the uncertainty that is causing all the problems at the moment. Once people know what they are dealing with, they can deal with it.”
Mr McLauchlan added: “Once certainty is there, you will see quite a lot of movement in the SME sector, and more investment, I would think.”
Wylie & Bisset, which is based on Glasgow’s Bath Street, has grown from 40 staff and four partners when Mr McLauchlan and Mr McKinnon joined in the 1990s to around 140 staff and 11 partners.
Its growth since has largely been organic, with the firm gradually building up a presence in England and Northern Ireland through the provision of services, such as audit work, to the housing sector and to colleges and academy trusts.
In Scotland, the firm has successfully tendered for a contract to provide insolvency services for the Scottish Government on three consecutive occasions, with the work coming through the Accountancy in Bankruptcy (AIB) service.
Mr McKinnon said it has been a “big coup” for Wylie & Bisset to win the contract multiple times.
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