Robson Laidler crowned North East accountancy firm of the year
Robson Laidler Accountants has scooped the title of North East Accountancy Firm of the Year (51-200 employees) at the prestigious North East Accountancy Awards, which was held during a glittering ceremony last week (on 30 June) at the Hilton Hotel Newcastle Gateshead.
The award comes hot off the heels of the firm becoming the region’s first accredited B Corporation in the region, which is awarded to businesses who display the highest standards in social, environmental and economic performance.
The 14th North East Accountancy Awards – sponsored by Nigel Wright Recruitment – gathered together the best of the North East finance community to share their successes and achievements of the past two-years in a night of great celebration.
Robson Laidler is one of the largest independent accountancy practices in the North East, originally starting as a single practice in Newcastle in 1920, and now has a second office in Chester le Street taking its head count to over 100.
The Firm of the Year award recognised Robson Laidler’s achievements in meeting rigorous social and environmental standards, which represents the firm’s commitment to goals outside of profit and having a positive impact on its people, clients and the environment.
Regarding financial performance, over the past 12-months Robson Laidler secured an additional £400,000 in new business, increasing turnover by 13.5%. And as part of its profit-sharing scheme, the firm split profits between staff.
Robson Laidler was also praised for its involvement in the region’s second largest acquisition deal to date, supporting Tombola on its £402million acquisition by Flutter Entertainment in November 2021.
Robson Laidler managing director Graham Purvis said: “We are beyond proud to receive regional recognition for the work we have done over the past 24-months to make a positive difference to the lives of our people, clients and our communities.
“From setting up initiatives to help our clients overcome the barriers of the Covid-19 pandemic to help them evolve and make sustainable businesses, to enhancing our HR policies for staff, to becoming B Corp accredited and launching our own Community Foundation giving 5% of our profits to local charitable causes – we really have considered all our stakeholders in our business strategy to ensure we make the biggest positive impact.
“But most of all this award is for our team; it is the external recognition for the part they have all played in making the company what it is today. We know that more work is needed to get us to where we want to be as a business but for now, we are delighted to celebrate our success and to be an advocate for businesses in our region.”
Robson Laidler has also been shortlisted in the North East Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2022 and will attend an awards dinner later this month.