Horne’s happy dilemma sends Campbell Dallas on the prowl

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 08/08/2012 00:00

SCOTTISH mid-tier accountancy firm Campbell Dallas is returning to its acquisitive roots after managing partner Chris Horne yesterday outlined an ambitious expansion strategy.

Horne aims to raise turnover by 50 per cent to £15 million and said the growth could come through one large acquisition or merger or through a number of smaller takeover deals.

Glasgow-based Campbell Dallas was created in 1999 through the merger of Bearsden-based Campbell & Co and Dallas Nicol & Co of Paisley.

A series of deals followed, with the Perth office of Reeves & Neylan joining in 2003, MacMillan Chartered Accountants of Glasgow in 2005 and MacPherson & Co of Aberdeen in 2006.

The rapid growth led to a lack of space at the firm’s offices in Bearsden and Paisley and so Campbell Dallas unveiled plans in 2010 to move into an office at Braehead. Now that move is complete – with a £1m investment in fitting out the premises – Horne is back on the acquisition trail.

“Deals always take longer now but we’re already out in the market talking to people and the attraction of a firm without infrastructure is obvious to many smaller firms, which might be struggling to attract the quality of client or quality of staff that they want,” Horne told The Scotsman.

As well as making acquisitions, Horne is targeting 7 or 8 per cent organic growth and aims to take turnover at the firm’s Aberdeen office from £1m to £6m over the medium-term.

He has been pleased with the growth from the oil and gas and food and drink sectors already and the firm’s chairman, Ian Williams, has relocated to Aberdeen to grow his renewable energy practice.

Accounts filed at Companies House show that Campbell Dallas, which has some 140 staff, turned over just under £10m in the year to 31 May 2011, the most recent period for which
accounts were available.

Horne said that the 2012
financial year had been a year of standing still for the firm during the office move and that the financial performance had been roughly flat. But he is targeting growth again in the current
financial year.