Stephens Scown advises on accountancy business sale

One of Truro’s long-standing accountancy practices, Kelsall Steele, has joined Baldwins Group, with Stephens Scown’s corporate team advising the seller on the sale.

Partner in the corporate team, Robert Brightley has advised Kelsall Steele and a number of its clients for over 17 years. He led on the deal, with experts from Stephens Scown’s employment team advising on the employment law aspects.

Robert said: “Kelsall Steele has operated in Mid and West Cornwall for 70 years and has built up a strong reputation among the business community here. This is an exciting new chapter for the firm, opening up opportunities as it is now part of a large national group.”

Baldwins, a Cogital Group company, now has more than 90 offices throughout the UK, employing over 3,000 staff with an annual turnover of approximately £215 million.

The Kelsall Steele deal is one of two concurrent acquisitions by Baldwins, which has also seen Perrins Chartered Accountants in Barnstaple join their group.

Kelsall Steele MD, Bernard Pooley, will continue to lead the firm’s Truro office, alongside Malcolm Peters. He said: “This spells great news for our clients as we can use Baldwins’ national coverage and depth of specialist expertise to further strengthen our business advisory services.

“It also presents an exciting opportunity as it allows us to increase our investment in technology to further improve our client service in a rapidly changing and challenging environment.”

Commenting on the service he received from Robert Brightley and the team at Stephens Scown, Bernard Pooley added: “We have worked with Robert and his colleagues on many client engagements. The expert support and personal service we received throughout this transaction was as always of the highest quality.”

Robert Brightley is a partner in our corporate team based in Truro. The team are ranked as the number one corporate team for SME’s in the South West by Chambers independent guide to the legal profession. To contact Robert, please call 01872 265100 or email corporate.cornwall@stephens-scown.co.uk.