Staffordshire accountancy firms merge to support growth

TWO chartered accountancy firms in Staffordshire are to merge in order to strengthen their business offering to the region.

The merger sees Cannock-headquartered Rostance Edwards link up with the well-established Newcastle-under-Lyme office of Dean Statham chartered accountants.

Rostance Edwards already has clients throughout the UK and overseas, but it said the combination of services delivered by the two offices would strengthen its offering to businesses across the Midlands.

Barry Edwards, a director of Rostance Edwards, said: “A crucial part of the merger was for us to retain the services of one of the existing Dean Statham partners, David Beardmore. David is recognised as one of the top business advisors in the area and lots of businesses have achieved significant growth in profitability as a result of his advice.

“I believe modern businesses need a real breadth of services from accountants, backed by practical experience and commercially astute advice; they need a proactive firm, able to help them avoid problems, not just solve them when they turn up.”

“Our new office in Newcastle under Lyme is a great opportunity to spread our message and help even more businesses grow to their full potential,” he added.

Director Lee Grattage, who will lead the new office in Newcastle, said the merger brought together two well-respected and successful Staffordshire accountancy practices.

“We identified the Newcastle office of Dean Statham as a perfect fit with our no-nonsense approach to getting the job done for our clients, leaning far more to being business development strategists than ‘once a year’ tax form filers,” he said.

One of the resulting from the merger sees the promotion of senior corporate manager Lorraine Beardmore to a new role of Associate Director.

Beardmore said: “Rostance Edwards has grown significantly in recent years, largely by personal recommendation from existing clients, but we believe the time is right to demonstrate our ambition and commitment to businesses across the region.

“I’ve been here for 16 years and know the area well and the challenges businesses in this area face. By combining the strengths of the two offices, we’re confident we have a really powerful proposition that will offer additional support to existing clients and attract new clients looking for our particular brand of pragmatic advice.”