Case studies

A renowned Edinburgh recruitment business took early advice on setting up and throughout their fifteen year business life we steered them from start to finish. With 240 employees at the height of their success we provided weekly payroll services while at the same time dealing with the annual accounts and company and personal tax requirements. When their retirement approached, we provided clear guidance in evaluating alternative exit strategies and hand holding throughout thereby maximising the return to the owners.

Buying out a business – ten years ago we assisted in the acquisition by Edinburgh businessmen of an established retail business. This was their first venture into this trade and we went on to do the compliance work over the next few years, but became concerned when the business fell into a period of poor trading results with losses, pressure on overdraft and difficulty meeting Vat & PAYE liabilities. We suggested a business review and produced a plan and action points which saw an immediate recovery in their trading results. They were so pleased with the improvement that they asked us to conduct periodic root and branch reviews.

Having seen significant annual losses swiftly change to satisfactory profits we identified the opportunity for a management buy-in. Having established the value of the business and implemented a new business plan we assisted in the final buy-in. The company trades successfully to this day and are a happy crew.

Keep it brief - a prospective client approached us as he was looking for a clear understanding of the advantages of moving a partnership into a limited company. We give advice that is succinct and appropriate to the client’s circumstances rather than sweeping generalisations. In this case we summarised the key points in a one page e-mail which gave clear guidance. The client responded that this one pager gave them more advice than they had had from their existing accountant in the past five years. They are now a client of ours.