Saffery is a firm of chartered accountants in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It has nine offices across the UK as well as offshore. The firm acts for clients across a variety of sectors and provides accountancy, audit and assurance, personal and corporate tax, and corporate finance services. Saffery is a member firm of Nexia International, a worldwide network of accounting and

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

firms. Matthew Burton is the firm's

managing partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as "equity partners". Th ...

History

In 1880, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) was formed. Saffery was a founding member of the first council and its president between 1889 and 1891. On 1 July 1982, Safferys and Champness, Cowper & Co, founded by JH Champness, merged to practise as Saffery Champness. In 1986, the international network SC International was founded by the firm. This went on to merge with Nexia International in 2007 to create a global provider of audit and advisory services. In 2010, Jonathan Fox became the firm's

– the first non-accountant to lead a top 20 firm. On 1 October 2012, the firm announced the acquisition of the Film & TV Unit of

RSM Tenon RSM Tenon was a professional services firm based in the United Kingdom, which was listed on the FTSE SmallCap Index and part of RSM Global. The company was formed from the merger of the Tenon Group with RSM Bentley Jennison in December 2009. Th ...

. The transaction enabled them to build their Sports and Entertainment Group. In 2013, Saffery Champness was involved in developing and lobbying for the UK Tax Relief and were the advisers for the production's cultural test application. In May 2015, Rob Elliott became the firm's managing partner. In 2016 the firm relocated its London office to 71 Queen Victoria Street in the heart of the City of London. In 2017 it was announced that James Sykes had been elected to a four-year term as chairman of the firm. In 2017, the firm opposed changes by the UK Government to require Scottish limited partnerships to disclose " persons of significant control", saying it was a "further erosion of privacy". In 2018, Matthew Burton became the firm's managing partner. In 2021, the

Financial Reporting Council The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is an independent regulator in the UK and Ireland based in London Wall in the City of London, responsible for regulating auditors, accountants and actuaries, and setting the UK's Corporate Governance and ...

opened an investigation into work done by Saffery Champness in auditing

Greensill Capital Greensill Capital was a financial services company based in the United Kingdom and Australia. It focused on the provision of supply chain financing and related services. The company was founded in 2011 by Lex Greensill. It filed for insolvency ...

's accounts between 2014 and 2019 after the company's collapse. The firm said it would cooperate fully with the FRC. In May 2022, Saffery Champness registered fiduciaries acquired Cayman-based Holden Trust and established a Saffery Champness office in the Cayman Islands. In September 2023, Saffery Champness rebranded as Saffery.

References

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External links

SafferyNexia International
1885 establishments in the United Kingdom Accounting firms of the United Kingdom Financial services companies based in the City of London Macroeconomics consulting firms