Streets Chartered Accountants and Whittles confirm merger

Streets Chartered Accountants has announced it has merged with Colchester-based Whittles to create Streets Whittles Chartered Accountants. It comes as Streets said it was looking to expand its presence in Essex, to add to its existing offices across the East of England, including Cambridge and Newmarket, and further south in Stevenage and London. Rachel Skells, lead partner for Whittles, said the merger was a great match “both in terms of client focus and cultural fit”. She said: “Myself and my fellow partners made the decision to merge the firm with Streets because we believe it is in the best interests for all concerned. In terms of size, a three-partner firm has the benefits of a boutique firm but also a number of underlying challenges. Now that Whittles is part of a wider thriving practice, we can confidently promise greater continuity of service to our clients and greatly improved career prospects for our team. “We also believe our clients may potentially benefit in that the combined firm will also be able to offer a wider range of services including areas of specialist corporate and private client tax planning, international advice and personal financial planning.” Streets managing partner, Paul Tutin, added: “Whilst we considered opening a new office in the county, we really wanted to join up with another like minded firm. We were therefore delighted to enter into a conversation with the Whittles partners, Rachel Skells, Michael Greene and Dan Insley. “Very early on in our discussion it was clear that we shared the same vision and values for the profession and for supporting our clients. This certainly made the process of merging much easier, even enjoyable. A great start to our new future together.” He added: “By coming together both Whittles and ourselves will be able to capitalise on our respective expertise and will be better placed to grow and develop to support the needs of both existing and future clients. “We also feel that the merger brings exciting opportunities for our team members and for new recruits who can join a progressive and expanding practice. With Streets Whittles offices in Colchester and Mersea, we now have 19 offices from Manchester in the north to Brighton in the south.” Streets Law, the firm's dedicated corporate and commercial law offering led by managing director and solicitor, Adam Aisthorpe, undertook the legal work on the merger, including drafting the new partnership agreement and dealing with the due diligence process in collaboration with internal colleagues in the tax and audit teams at Streets.