North West accountancy to grow following takeover by £320m group

Accountancy practice Baldwins has expanded in the North West with the acquisition of regional accountants Cassons.

Cassons serves around 3,000 clients across East Lancashire and further afield, with offices on St Crispin Way in the Haslingden area of Rossendale and on Manchester’s Bridge Street.

Baldwins is part of CogitalGroup, a £320m-turnover business services firm employing 4,700 people across 150 offices in seven countries.

According to Cassons managing partner Les Nutter, joining Baldwins will enable the company to continue growing.

He said of the move: “We are very positive about joining the Baldwin Group as we are totally committed to our shared ethos of developing relationships with local businesses in local communities, and providing the best level of service through local people. Our own personality and values will remain the same.

“We have advised many clients throughout the generations who have grown and developed with the help and support we have given them, and of course through our active participation in BKR International we will continue to advise clients as they expand and trade overseas.”

Les continued: “By joining Baldwins, our clients will be able to access the group’s various national teams of technical and sector specialists including banking and finance which will help our clients in the North West to strengthen and expand.

“The support and investment from Baldwins will mean that we can provide extra services and give added value to our clients particularly in terms of technology.”

Speaking further, Les said the deal will also enable Cassons to offer its own team “even better learning and development opportunities”.

Baldwins Accountancy Group director Shaun Knight said the agreement represented an opportunity to invest further in the North West, following the company’s acquisition of accountants CLB Coopers in November last year.

Shaun commented: “We are always looking at areas where we can expand and Cassons has built an impressive and varied client base.

“We are looking forward to working with Cassons to help the business and their clients identify growth opportunities moving forward.”

He added: “Since we moved into the North West last November, CLB Coopers has grown at a significant rate and we are confident 2018 will be another exciting year.”