Smith & Williamson

Smith & Williamson describes itself as an independent professional and
financial services group. Ranked No. 8 in Accountancy Age’s Top 50 it pulled in
£152m of fees last year, which shows that its channelled focus on private
clients is working well.

Founded in 1881, the firm’s 1300 staff discharge their private client remit
but also provide mid-to-large corporates, professional practices and non-profit
organisations with the financial advice they need to achieve their business
goals.

Smith & Williamson Ltd is now the principal UK member of Nexia
International, one of the longest established global networks of independent
accounting and consulting firms.

The UK practice has an interesting structure – its corporate finance arm is
part of M&A International, a leading independent alliance of specialist
merger and acquisition firms with 42 divisions around the world.

The firm has said it’s mulling the option of going public, and if it did
float at an analyst’s estimated value of £250m, it would become the largest
listed accounting firm in the UK.

Interesting times for the firm, with Nexia having merged with the global
network of Saffery Champness, SC International, to create an international
alliance with a combined turnover of $2.2bn (£1.1bn).

The combined group will be known as Nexia International and will be the ninth
largest global provider of audit and accounting services in the world. The
tie-up is expected to be completed by 1 December this year.

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