Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

AAB’s expansion ambitions take a big leap forward – Aberdeen firm merges with smaller Scottish rival

Angus McCuaig, managing partner at Hardie Caldwell (left) and Graeme Allan, chief executive at Anderson Anderson announce a merger of the two firms.
Angus McCuaig, managing partner at Hardie Caldwell (left) and Graeme Allan, chief executive at Anderson Anderson announce a merger of the two firms.

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB)’s ambitions to expand its accountancy and business support activities across Scotland’s three largest cities have taken a major step forward, following its takeover of Glasgow-based Hardie Caldwell.

Hardie Caldwell is being rebranded under the AAB name, “with immediate effect”.

Aberdeen-headquartered AAB said the two firms turned over £30 million between them in their last trading year and the aim now was to grow revenue to £50m by 2025.

This is an extremely important milestone for the group.”

Graeme Allan, AAB chief executive

Hardie Caldwell employed 40 people whose addition to the AAB team takes the total workforce at the enlarged group to more than 330, with in excess of 250 of these based in Aberdeen.

The Glasgow firm’s three partners – Angus McCuaig, Douglas Emery and Pauline McGarry – have all become partners of AAB as a result of the merger.

Mr McCuaig was managing partner of Hardie Caldwell, and is now in the same role for AAB’s Glasgow operation. He is also on the enlarged group’s board.

Financial details of the deal, which has not resulted in any job losses and is on the contrary expected to lead to further recruitment later this year, are not being disclosed.

Deal cements link going back three decades

AAB – based at the Prime Four business park in Kingswells – said the move was an acceleration of its plans to become a leading Scottish regional player across the country’s three biggest cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The two firms will “seamlessly join together”, having worked together as part of the UK-wide Accelerate association of accountancy practices for the past 30 years, the group added.

Clients of both businesses are expected to benefit from more resources and better services, particularly across the central belt of Scotland – where AAB now has an 80-plus team across offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow. There is also an office in London.

AAB’s headquarters, Kingshill View, at Prime Four.

AAB chief executive Graeme Allan said: “This is a fantastic development for both businesses, with a shared vision of providing an awesome client experience and supporting our clients’ diverse needs across sectors and geographies.

“The merger provides AAB with a greater geographical footprint, and gives us a key presence in Glasgow which will help us realise our growth strategy to 2025 and beyond. This is an extremely important milestone for the group.”

Scottish Family Business Top 100

Mr McCuaig added, “We have a long history of working in partnership with AAB and look forward to moving this on to the next level through the merger of the two firms.

“We are hugely excited by the opportunities this creates for both our staff and clients as we embark on exciting growth plans to create a much larger AAB business in Glasgow and across the wider central belt.”


Accountancy firm now in its 31st year

AAB was founded in 1990 by retired senior partner Mike Brown and two former Ernst & Young colleagues, Bobby Anderson and Sheena Anderson.

The firm started out with a workforce of just five people and had turnover of about £600,000 in its first year.

It has seen enormous expansion in the past 31 years, with its latest acquisition giving it more than 330 employees and turnover of around £30m.

AAB now boasts 21 partners, and provides audit and accounting, tax, payroll and human resources, outsourcing and advisory services to clients operating throughout the world.


P&J Business Breakfast on M&A sets new record

Government to scrap accountancy regulator and break up Big Four dominance