Cottons Group appoints Luke Prout as equity partner

Cottons Group has announced that Luke Prout has formally joined the firm’s partnership as an equity partner after initially joining as a salaried partner in June 2024.

Under Prout’s leadership the team has begun building “sector-specific expertise, particularly in property, construction, creative industries, and technology, while enhancing internal documentation and training to support consistency and quality control.”

Internationally, the team is preparing to join a global network to strengthen its cross-border
capabilities. Prout started the process of selecting an international network within weeks of him joining Cottons Group in 2024 and this partnership will be announced in the coming weeks.

Will Smart, managing partner at Cottons Group, said: “Luke has brought a fresh perspective and a clear strategic vision to our tax offering. His ability to lead, innovate, and collaborate has had a profound impact on the business. The award shortlisting is a well-deserved recognition of the team he’s built and the value they’re delivering to our clients.”

Prout added: “It’s an honour to join the partnership as an equity partner. We’ve worked hard to create a tax team that not only delivers strong technical advice but does so in a collaborative and commercially relevant way. To be recognised nationally in our first year shows we’re building something special – I’m incredibly proud of the whole team and what we have achieved is only partly down to me, the whole team deserve the credit.

“From the outset, my priorities were to enhance the technical depth of our advisory offering, embed a more collaborative approach across service lines, and finetune our internal processes. We saw an opportunity to offer advice that goes beyond compliance – to support long-term planning, restructuring, and succession strategies.”

Cottons Group is an accountancy practice in the Northamptonshire and West Midlands area, with over 40 years of experience.