Azets, the UK’s largest accountancy firm and business advisor to SMEs, with offices across the Solent, including in Bournemouth, today announces the acquisition of Inspire Accountants, an award-winning independent business and tax advisory firm based in Poole.
It marks the second UK acquisition in three months as Azets continues to deliver on its ambitious growth plans across the UK.
Inspire was established in 2004 by Warren Munson and has an office on Commercial Road in Poole with 30 employees providing services to around 1,000 clients across Bournemouth, Poole and the wider Solent region.
The acquisition takes Azets’ regional network to 86 offices across the UK and enhances the UK Top 10 accounting firm’s key service lines to entrepreneurial and growing businesses in Poole and its surrounding area. As a niche practice specialising in providing advisory and strategic advice to entrepreneurial and growing businesses, Inspire also provides an on call Financial Director service, known as FD on Demand, which provides clients with the experience and expertise of a full-time FD for the times when they need it.
Inspire’s clients will benefit from Azets’ current and future investment in technology, helping to provide a smarter delivery of client services to continue to help them grow, as well as access to more specialist advisory services such as banking and finance, data analytics, cyber security, forensics and restructuring.
Acquiring Inspire adds 30 people in business support and client-facing roles to the Azets team, including three Partners.
Adam Wilson, Regional Managing Partner, Solent Region at Azets, said:
“We’re excited to welcome Inspire to the Azets family; this firm has a reputation for high-quality people providing high-quality client service. The acquisition is another significant step on our growth journey to increase revenue by 50% in the next five years.
“Inspire is established among the leading accounting and business advisory firms across the Bournemouth, Poole and wider Solent area, with a broad capability across accountancy and business advisory services.
“Azets offers trusted, business-critical advice, compliance and outsourcing services to ambitious companies and business owners. Inspire is a logical and valuable addition to Azets, as we work to provide our clients with more advice that will improve their businesses and their lives.
“We believe strongly in the local delivery of personalised client services, whilst giving businesses in the South the opportunity to benefit from our breadth, depth, and experience as an SME focused international accounting, tax, audit, advisory and business services group. Inspire has a strong regional reputation for its personable approach and specialist expertise which, combined with Azets’ local and international reach, opens up a wealth of opportunities for our clients.”
Warren Munson, Founder and Managing Director of Inspire Accountants, said:
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Inspire and our clients, and the acquisition demonstrates our commitment to the continued growth of our business, as we enter the next phase of our long and successful journey as part of the UK’s newest Top 10 accounting firm. Azets is a business which shares our clear focus on people and clients – it is the perfect fit both strategically and culturally.
“Inspire has a hard-earned reputation for delivering service excellence to entrepreneurial, owner-managed businesses across Bournemouth, Poole and the wider Solent region. As part of Azets, our existing and new SME clients will benefit from an even broader set of specialist expertise, as they continue to drive forward the UK’s economic recovery.”