Baker Tilly is the key member of Baker Tilly International, a network of independent accountancy and business services firms, which ranks at number eight among the global accountancy networks by fee income.

Internationally, it has presence through its 126 firms in 93 countries, with a global aggregate fee income of US$2.3 billion and more than 21,900 staff.

The firm markets itself as one which is able to call upon member firms around the world when needed to provide clients with local expertise in any overseas marketplace, in an attempt to compete with the large well-known networks.

The UK's seventh largest firm, with a fee income of £200m, has an active programme of staff secondment and promotes the sharing of ideas across various sectors ranging from healthcare and tax to IT and marketing.

The network runs several internal conferences where member firms meet and share common experiences and ideas of best practice.

After being embroiled last year in an investigation relating to former client Sanctuary, the firm was eventually vindicated after the probe by the regulator’s Financial Reporting Review Panel found that prior-year adjustments to Sanctuary’s 2005 accounts should have been presented ‘as a correction of fundamental errors and not as changes in accounting policy’ – a point raised by Baker Tilly when it qualified Sanctuary’s accounts.

In March, the firm sold its financial services arm and advisory to wealth management company Towry for an undisclosed sum.

In April it became the last of the top ten firms to convert to LLP status, often used as a means to protect against massive liability claims.

The firm opted for separate LLPs for its business divisions, with an LLP above that for the firm as a whole and then a holding company above that. The holding company could be used for either European mergers or for raising equity capital.