News in Brief: Tuesday April 1

BAKER Tilly's merger with Horwath Clark Whitehill's Yorkshire arm begins today, creating what they claim is the largest accountancy group outside the Big Four in West Yorkshire with a projected annual turnover of more than £20m.

Since the announcement of the merger in February, it has been decided that the Leeds office of Horwath Clark Whitehill will relocate from Lawnswood to Baker Tilly's Leeds city centre HQ at Whitehall Quay. The firm is looking for new premises in Bradford.

Kevin O'Connor, Baker Tilly's managing partner in Leeds, said: “We have gained significant critical mass in West Yorkshire on the back of the Horwath Clark Whitehill deal. We have added a quality business to our own, with quality people and although we are already working closely together, it will be fantastic when we are all under the same roof in Leeds. In Bradford, we will be moving our operation from Currer Street to new premises and are currently considering several locations.”

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YORKSHIRE businesswomen will be flying the flag for the region when they embark on a series of European trips organised by networking and business support group Forward Ladies.

Partly funded by the European Commission around 40 women will visit Belgium, Italy and Latviato find out more about how the EU works.

Etta Cohen, managing director of Forward Ladies, explained: ” During our stay we will visit the Commission, the Parliament and meet MEPs to gain an understanding of how it all works, how it affects us and our business.”

For more information visit www.forwardladies.com

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DLG Architects has appointed Richard Austwick as senior architectural technologist at its Leeds office.

Mr Austwick joins DLG having worked across all sectors in particular commercial, residential and industrial.

He will head up DLG's food industry team as well as managing ongoing projects for Arla Foods at Stourton in Leeds and Settle worth £20m.

He previously worked at SDA Architects in Leeds where he was an associate and specialised in designing and facilitating developments on difficult sites.

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YORKSHIRE accountants Garbutt & Elliott are conducting a survey of the north's family businesses – looking into the reasons for success and failure in the longer term.

The survey is being undertaken in conjunction with The International Centre for Families in Business.

The findings will be presented at a Family Business Conference at Hazlewood Castle, near Tadcaster, on April 10.

Craig Manson, a director at Garbutt & Elliott, said: “This survey aims to draw out the positives of being a family business, providing supporting data to suggest that businesses retained in the family can be successful. The results of the survey also aim to raise awareness of key difficulties that may occur within a family business and the support available to overcome this in ample time.”

For more information e mail cmanson@garbutt-elliott.co.uk.

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THE Institute of Directors (IoD) in Yorkshire has announced that leading futurologist David A. Smith will be the guest speaker at its annual North Yorkshire Dinner.

A futurologist, and CEO of Global Futures and Foresight (GFF), a strategic futures think tank, his research and business career have made him recognisable as one of the UK's leading futurologists.

Since co-founding GFF, Mr Smith has worked with many of the world's largest organisations, including O2, the Royal Mail and Heinz, as well as academic institutions and industry associations.

He has also advised both the UK and EU governments on strategic research investment decisions.

The event takes place at Rudding Park on May 21.

For more information visit www.iod.com/yorkshire/events