The new chairman of chartered accountants Henderson Loggie has made top line growth his number one priority for the business.
Alan Davis said the company, which recently moved to new headquarters at the Vision building in Dundee’s Greenmarket, had a strong base and was well placed to increase turnover from the current base of around £10 million.
“The biggest challenge is growing the top line,” Mr Davis told The Courier in his first interview as chairman.
“We are trying to do that by having the right people to put in front of clients both new and existing but also by leveraging the reputation we have for providing advice and for good service.”
The firm’s longer-term ambition is to grow revenues to circa £15m and increase the workforce from the current complement of 191 to around 250.
In addition to Dundee, the company has offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow and the primary focus is on driving growth organically.
It has seen recent success in developing its education offering it now provides auditing services to more than half of Scotland’s student associations and creative media, the life sciences and manufacturing are also key targets but the firm also has a strong base of small, diverse businesses.
However, Mr Davis and managing partner David Smith said the company would also assess any acquisition opportunities an increasingly popular route to growth as Scotland’s professional services sector has consolidated.
The firm said it was also seeing a growing need from companies to access advice when operating overseas.
The company is a founding member of MHA, a UK-wide association of independent accountancy firms that is affiliated to the wider Baker Tilly International network.
Mr Smith said: “We were pitching a couple of weeks ago and one of the key questions we were asked was whether we could help clients with their international affairs. That was a key part of what they were looking for.”
Looking forward, Mr Davis said he was keen to develop the business collaboratively.
“I don’t see myself as the tub-thumping, get things done now, type of chairman,” he said.
“I visit all of the offices regularly and speak to people about the challenges we face and I don’t propose to change that.”