Yorkshire accountancy firm representing Emeli Sande, Mabel and Katie Melua broadens capital footprint

Chartered accountancy and business advisory firm Hentons has acquired London-based Clayton Stark & Co.

The undisclosed deal will see turnover top £8 million, with staff numbers increasing to 130 for the Accountancy Age Top 100 firm.

The investment into the London office by Yorkshire headquartered firm is part of Hentons’ strategy to increase its national footprint and service offering.

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Managing director Peter Watson said: “Clayton Stark & Co has a particularly strong audit offering and the entire team will join and complement our colleagues in London, who provide a full-service offering including audit, accounts, financial planning, wealth management and taxation services.

“Our team in London also specialise in the music and entertainment sector and are renowned within the music industry, having been shortlisted as accountancy firm of the year at the Music Week Awards for four years in a row. With over four decades of experience in this sector, the firm supports managers, promoters, tour teams, agents and musicians and include artists such as Emeli Sande, Mabel and Katie Melua, with a whole host of services.

“Our expertise in the entertainment sector is matched by our specialist sector experience in healthcare, property, manufacturing, and the not-for-profit sector.”

The firm has offices in Leeds, Sheffield, York, and Thirsk, as well as the now expanded London offering.

Last September, it created Hentons Corporate Finance via a joint venture with South Yorkshire-based Mackenzie Spencer.

Jan Kariya, senior partner at Clayton Stark & Co, said: “We have been trading for over 66 years and have a loyal client base who will benefit from a number of enhanced service offerings through our partnership with Hentons. As well as accessing a larger audit team, clients can now take advantage of specialist financial planning, tax advisory, corporate finance and cloud-based accounting solutions. Hentons also has specialist payroll teams, which several of our clients are keen to use.”

Welcoming the team, managing partner at Hentons Nadeem Ahmed added: “With ambitious acquisitive and organic growth plans for the future, we have seen that the growing demands on compliance, the need to invest in technology and the challenges of attracting the best talent in a competitive market place, has prompted many well established independent firms of accountants to consider the benefits of joining Hentons, as we are a proactive practice that can help unlock their potential.”