Banff-based Anderson & Co has merged with fellow accountancy firm Ritsons.
The move will see all four members of the Anderson & Co team transfer to work under the Ritsons brand.
Anderson & Co founder Arlene Anderson also becomes a partner in Ritsons which has offices in Buckie, Elgin, Forres, Inverness and Keith.
Grown business over the years
Ms Anderson started the business from her home kitchen with just one client in December 2014.
Since then she has grown the firm with and saw the value of cloud computing and built her business around supporting organisations to embrace new technology to improve their financial processes.
Ritsons partner, Deborah Newton, first hired Ms Anderson in 2001 and went on to support her through her chartered accountancy training.
Ms Anderson developed her early career at Ritsons, before moving to another accounting firm, coming back to Ritsons and then leaving to start her own business while caring for a young family.
Merger leads to future success
Ms Newton said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Arlene, her team, and client base to Ritsons.
“Arlene’s vision and experience in using cloud computing to improve finance systems is invaluable as we support clients with new HMRC processes and making tax digital.
“Our shared values and ethos of focusing on people and putting our team and clients first is an excellent base from which to build Ritsons success further.”
Ms Anderson added: “Ritsons has always felt like home, so while circumstances have seen me gain valuable experience elsewhere and ultimately build my own successful business, I’m excited to be back in the Ritsons team, in my new role as partner.
“The accounting sector is going through significant technology driven change and I’m looking forward to working with the wider Ritsons team to capitalise on the opportunities in the industry.”
Ms Anderson joining the partners team has also resulted in parity between men and women at partnership level for the first time since the company was formed in 1909.