RSM Tenon deal sees Baker Tilly double in size

ACCOUNTANT and business adviser Baker Tilly has more than doubled in size overnight after the completion of its rescue of rival RSM Tenon.

Integration began yesterday and a number of senior RSM executives in Birmingham – including Peter Whitehead and Phil Coleman – have become partners at Baker Tilly.

Baker Tilly’s Jill Jones stresses that the deal is about growth, not cost savings and job losses.

She said: “It is very exciting – the deal will increase our regional presence from 200 to around 650. The message for today is that it’s business as usual for staff and clients, and secondly that we want to integrate our Manchester and Stoke offices as quickly as we can.”

Fellow accountancy firm Dains took over the Stoke-on-Trent operation of RSM Tenon more than a year ago.

Jones added: “We have been having meetings with our new colleagues and the response has been very positive – the last 18 months to two years has been a period of uncertainty for them.”

As well as offices the deal brings two additional service lines to the enlarged firm, risk advisory and outsourcing.

All the former RSM Tenon offices will be rebranded Baker Tilly. In Birmingham Baker Tilly is based in St Philips Point, off Temple Row in the city centre, while RSM Tenon’s office was slightly out of town in Legge Street, near the Aston Expressway.

The merged firm is now the sevenh largest accountancy firm in the UK, with annual revenues of £350m, and more than 4,000 partners and staff working across more than 50 offices.