The UK accounting firms Francis Clark and
Winter Rule, based in the South West of England, have
merged.
Francis Clarke has 38 partners and 250 staff and specialises in
energy and renewable, grants advisory, leisure and tourism and the
construction industry. Winter Rule claims it is the largest
independent accountancy firm in Cornwall and specialises in
advising the legal profession, medical practitioners, farmers,
tourism businesses and charities.
The new firm will trade as Francis Clarke with the exception of the
Truro office which will trade under the name Francis Clarke with
Winter Rule.
The merger creates a practice with 45 partners
and more than 330 staff across seven offices in Exeter, Plymouth,
Salisbury, Taunton, Tavistock, Torquay and Truro.
Francis Clark managing partner Les Burnett
said the merger provided the ideal solution to the firm’s strategic
goal of opening a Cornwall office to better serve its already large
Cornish client base.
“For Winter Rule clients it is very much business as usual. They
will be dealing with the same team here in Truro and we in turn
will have access to a greater range of in-house expertise. The
culture and values in both firms were very similar before the
merger which is why we believe that it will be such a success going
forward,” Winter Rule chairman John Mitchell said.
Both Francis Clarke and Winter Rule are UK
member firms of international accounting association Leading Edge
Alliance.
