Frank Hirth
Background
Based in London, this accountancy firm was founded back in the 1970s. Frank Hirth specialises in tax compliance for the UK and US markets. For the last 45 years, the firm has aimed to support its clients in navigating through complex regulations and tax planning issues that apply across borders.
On 4 May 2021, Frank Hirth was acquired by EY, one of the country’s Big Four accountancy firms. Some 195 of the firm’s employees, serving 4,000 of Frank Hirth clients, moved over to work for EY as part of the deal. Currently, the organisation operates as EY Frank Hirth Limited, and its employees work alongside its parent firm’s private tax teams.
Frank Hirth provides a variety of tax and financial services to its many clients from various sectors of business, including the hospitality, technology and public sectors. These include, but are not limited to:
- Private Tax Services – including tax advice and reporting for individuals and families, specialist US tax advice, private capital agenda, compliance and reporting, and tax risk management
- Trusts, estates and family wealth services – including family office services, estate and trust management, and risk management for family offices
- Private capital and business tax services – including UK and international tax advice, tax planning on acquisitions and disposals, partnership tax compliance and advisory work, and access to the firm’s specialist teams
Financials
As a wider group, EY reported combined global revenues of $37.2bn (£26.8bn) for the financial year ended June 2020, a year-on-year climb of 4.1%.
EY’s tax division saw the largest increase in revenues, rising 5.1% from $9.46bn (£6.81bn) to $9.76bn (£7.03bn), as its transaction advisory services represented the lowest jump of 2.8% to the smallest revenue of $4.09bn (£2.95bn).
As for the company’s UK operations, it saw a fee income increase of 5% to £2.6bn for the 53 weeks ended 3 July 2020.
With Frank Hirth only just having just been added to the firm, there are no updated figures regarding how the deal has impacted the financial results of EY’s tax division since the acquisition.
Recent Coverage
EY has acquired Frank Hirth’s personal tax service business for an undisclosed sum.
According to EY, 200 employees, and over 5,000 clients, of Frank Hirth will now form part of the acquired business. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions and is likely to complete in the first half of 2021.
The firm said the deal is expected to “drive forward the EY ambition to be a leading organisation in private tax services”, and to provide clients with “high quality service, insights and experience as they face the increasing complexity of UK and US tax issues”.
Moore Kingston Smith has announced the acquisition of audit and accounting business Frank Hirth for an undisclosed sum.
The addition of the business includes Frank Hirth’s general practice audit, accounts and payroll business, as well as incorporating a team of 23 people including Andrew Grieve, who has led the audit and accounting team at Frank Hirth for the last six years.
Maureen Penfold, managing partner of Moore Kingston Smith, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Andrew and his team to the firm. They will seamlessly complement our existing City office team, strengthening us to further support our growing client base in line with our existing growth strategy.
Rawlinson and Hunter LLP has appointed Alex Jones as a partner in its US/UK transatlantic tax team, with effect from 1 December 2021.
Jones, who joins from EY Frank Hirth, has over 30 years of experience in US and UK personal tax, providing “complex” planning and assistance to high-net-worth Individuals.
According to the firm, Jones’ specialist areas include: private equity, hedge funds and real estate funds, personal tax issues related to fund structuring and reward, and specialist advice for entertainment and sports clients.