Good year for Baker Tilly as enlarged firm sees revenues surge to £245m

The mid-tier accountancy firm now employs 250 people in the city, which puts it on a par with EY, the smallest of the Big Four firms in Leeds.

National revenues surged to £245m in the year ending March 2014, said Baker Tilly.

It snapped up RSM Tenon’s trading divisions after the listed group went into administration in summer 2013.

Kevin O’Connor is regional managing partner for Yorkshire and the North East, while Neil Sevitt, formerly of RMS Tenon, has been appointed head of mid-market services for the UK firm.

Around 50 people left the business in Leeds following the merger, but there were no redundancies, said Mr O’Connor.

He said it has been a good year for the enlarged firm, although he insisted Baker Tilly did not want to be a fifth player behind PwC, KMPG, Deloitte and EY in the region.

He added: “We want to be a strong player in the mid market. Clearly we will compete with the Big Four in that area but we are not trying to be another one.”

Mr O’Connor estimated that Baker Tilly is twice the size of BDO, bigger than Grant Thornton and is “90 per cent sure” that it is larger than EY in Leeds. EY has 340 people at its offices in Leeds and Hull.

Mr O’Connor said clients “are much keener to do stuff, that’s not just deals, but buying plant, moving into new premises, looking to expand overseas and making acquisitions”.

He added: “There’s more activity going on and I don’t really see that slowing up. Despite the political uncertainty, our clients are getting on and doing business.”