Walletts cashes in on insolvency sale to Begbies

BEGBIES Traynor has bought Staffordshire based Walletts Insolvency Services (WIS) – the insolvency arm of Stoke-on-Trent accountancy firm Walletts Chartered Certified Accountants – for an undisclosed sum.

WIS, based at Adventure Place, Hanley, specialises in corporate recovery and insolvency services for local and regional small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and also personal insolvency work for individuals. It was part of the Walletts accountancy firm, which continues as an independent organisation.

Begbies Traynor said the WIS operation and its eight members of staff would be integrated into its existing practice in Stoke-on-Trent in the New Year.

Begbies Traynor Group’s executive chairman, Ric Traynor, said: “Following the recent acquisitions of Hamiltons and Tomlinsons, this represents further progress in line with our long term strategy to expand the group’s core insolvency and restructuring business.

“We look forward to welcoming Walletts’ insolvency specialists into our team and hope to leverage their existing case load and local contact base to grow our presence still further in the Staffordshire marketplace.”

The acquisition follows the death last year of Walletts’ insolvency practitioner Mike McCarthy.

Begbies Traynor partner Bob Young said: “Mike McCarthy was a friend as well as a fellow professional and it will be an honour for us to maintain and develop the good name he built for his firm.

“Walletts’ reputation, expertise and client base fit perfectly with our ambitions for the group. The deal is consistent with our strategy of considering both organic investment and acquisition opportunities, principally in the insolvency and restructuring sector and we look forward to welcoming the Walletts staff into the organisation and helping us to expand our offer in the region.”

Keith Salt, a partner at Walletts, added: “We are delighted that this acquisition will enable the first class service provided by this insolvency practice to develop in the future.

“Over the years, Mike McCarthy built a team which we believe will continue to thrive within Begbies Traynor.”

Last week Begbies Traynor Group also acquired Hamiltons, a Sheffield based firm of business recovery and insolvency practitioners. This followed on from its purchase of Manchester-based insolvency practice Tomlinsons last month.