Wylie & Bisset snaps up rival practice McLellan Harris

Chartered accountancy firm Wylie & Bisset has hit the acquisition trail and made a trio of promotions as it targets “ambitious” expansion plans in Scotland’s small business sector.

From left: Managing partners Ross McLauchlan and Donald McKinnon. Picture: Contributed

The Glasgow-based company has snapped up local rival practice McLellan Harris and announced it is targeting further deals as part of a wider growth strategy, in the short to medium term, also encompassing organic growth.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will not involve the transfer of any staff members, said the firm.

Wylie & Bisset said it is gearing up to enhance its activity in Scotland’s “buoyant” small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector.

It follows a restructuring programme, which led to the creation of joint managing partner roles for Donald McKinnon and Ross McLauchlan.

After an 18-month spell focused on this internal restructure, the business has now embarked on an “acquisition hunt” with the objective of significantly expanding the practice.

McLauchlan said: “The acquisition of McLellan Harris is part of a bigger picture insofar as we are actively considering other acquisition opportunities while looking to continue to grow the business organically.”

He added: “The deal, which does not involve any transfer of staff, came about through an informal meeting when Bob Harris, who happened to train me on tax when I undertook my CA [chartered accountant] training in the 1980s, mentioned his plans for retirement to our senior partner.”

McKinnon commented that the deal represented the “first step on the ladder” of the firm’s development plans.

He said: “It marks our commitment to build upon the success we have achieved to date.

“Wylie & Bisset’s core strength is its independence, and we are now at the start of a phase whereby we see further growth in acquisitions and organic growth, supported by the strong numbers within the business that allow us to do that.”

This strategy includes a series of promotions to “consolidate and facilitate” the company’s expansion.

The firm has promoted Eilidh Templeton, Sandy Hogg and Rory McCall as managers to its corporate department.

This closely follows the appointment of Catherine Livingstone at the end of last year as director with responsibility for supporting its growing owner-managed businesses client base.

McLauchlan added: “These latest promotions represent the successful outcome of a marked change in our approach to staff training and development whereby members of staff displaying potential are put through a programme in advance of a planned promotion.

“That programme was initiated a year ago with significant investment in time and effort deployed in development that has enabled our three managers in the corporate department to hit the ground running and deliver an enhanced offering to our expanding SME client base.”

Wylie & Bisset has doubled in size during the last ten years and currently includes 11 partners and more than 130 staff.

It works throughout the United Kingdom.