A LEADING York firm which counts Emeli Sande and Katie Melua among its clients has acquired a London-based rival for an undisclosed sum.

Chartered accountancy and business advisory firm Hentons has bought accountancy firm Clayton Stark & Co, which is based in the capital.

The deal will see turnover at Hentons climb to £8.3m and staff numbers rise to 130.

The investment into the London office by Hentons reflects the firm’s strategy of increasing its national footprint and service offering to clients.

Hentons is ranked as one of the top 100 accountancy firms by fee income in the UK by Accountancy Age, an online trade publication for accountants and financial staff in the UK.

Managing director at Hentons, 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 artistes 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.”

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.”

Managing partner at Hentons, Nadeem Ahmed, added: “Last September, we created Hentons Corporate Finance via a joint venture with South Yorkshire-based Mackenzie Spencer and with this latest acquisition, we now employ over 130 people across our offices in London, Leeds, Sheffield, York, and Thirsk.

York Press:

Managing partner at Hentons, Nadeem Ahmed.

"The acquisition underpins our commitment to our team and clients and firmly places us as a significant industry player, as well as one of the top 100 firms in the UK, specialising in advising SME businesses, family companies, entrepreneurs, and high net worth individuals.

“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.”