Beyond the Merger: What Joining a Larger Firm Really Means for Partners, People and Clients

Northern Ireland’s accountancy landscape is changing as established local practices join larger UK groups. But what happens after the merger? We speak to leaders at Azets, Moore Northern Ireland and Sumer Northern Ireland about the impact on clients, people, technology, growth and the opportunities created by greater scale.

Over recent years, a growing number of established local practices have joined larger UK and international accountancy groups. For those of us who have worked within the profession for many years, it represents one of the more significant structural changes we have seen in the local market.

Much of the initial discussion naturally focuses on the transaction itself. Who has acquired whom? What will the new business be called? Will the existing partners remain? How large will the combined firm become?

But perhaps the more interesting question comes six or twelve months later.

What actually changes after the merger?

For the firms involved, their clients and, importantly, their employees, is becoming part of a much larger organisation genuinely making a difference?

From our conversations with three Northern Ireland accountancy practices that have recently made this transition – Moore Northern Ireland, Azets and Sumer Northern Ireland – some remarkably consistent themes emerge.

Greater resources. More specialist expertise. Better technology. Access to larger clients and assignments. Increased investment in people. And career opportunities that would have been considerably more difficult for an independent regional practice to provide on its own.

Yet another theme comes through particularly strongly.

The firms believe they are achieving these benefits without sacrificing the local relationships and personal service that made them successful in the first place.

Local Roots, Bigger Reach

For an established accountancy practice considering joining a larger organisation, one of the obvious concerns is identity.

Clients may have dealt with the same partner or team for many years. Employees often enjoy the accessibility and atmosphere of a locally managed firm. Partners themselves have spent years building their reputation within the local business community.

Does becoming part of a national organisation inevitably change that?

The experience of all three firms suggests it doesn’t have to.

Following its combination with Moore Kingston Smith, Director Jason McCallion believes retaining those local relationships while adding the resources of the larger organisation has been one of the major advantages.

Jason McCallion, Director, Moore Northern Ireland

“Joining Moore Kingston Smith has given us the benefits of being part of a larger firm, while enabling us to retain the local strengths, relationships and personal approach that have always been central to Moore Northern Ireland.”

For clients, the combination is particularly important. They continue working with advisers who know their businesses and understand the Northern Ireland market, but those advisers now have access to expertise and resources from across a significantly larger organisation.

It’s a similar story at Azets.

Robbie Barr, Partner, highlights that while the capabilities surrounding the local team have expanded considerably, the client’s day-to-day relationship hasn’t disappeared.

Robbie Barr, Partner, Azets

“Importantly, our clients continue to work with the same local team they know and trust, while benefiting from the additional expertise and resources available across the wider Azets group.”

And the same principle is evident at Sumer Northern Ireland.

The firm became Sumer’s Northern Ireland office in July 2024, but Managing Partner Brian Clerkin says the objective has been to build upon rather than replace the relationships, local knowledge and decision-making developed over the previous 30 years.

Brian Clerkin, Managing Partner, Sumer Northern Ireland

“Joining Sumer Group has given our partners, people and clients access to greater resources, expertise and opportunities, while preserving the local relationships at the heart of our firm.”

Three different organisations, but a remarkably similar message.

Keep what made the local firm successful. Add what it couldn’t easily build on its own.

A Bigger Toolbox

One of the most immediate advantages of scale is access to expertise.

A successful independent accountancy practice can provide an impressive breadth of service, but there are practical limits to the number of specialist disciplines that any regional firm can maintain internally.

Joining a larger organisation changes that equation.

Moore Northern Ireland can now draw upon deeper expertise across audit, tax, advisory, compliance and specialist sectors through the wider Moore Kingston Smith organisation. Azets has seen a similar expansion.

Robbie Barr, Partner, Azets

“We’ve been able to offer clients broader support across areas such as corporate finance, tax and specialist advisory services, because we now have access to a wider range of expertise.”

That matters for more than simply adding another service to a brochure. Consider a long-standing owner-managed business that begins looking at an acquisition, international expansion, restructuring or eventual sale.

Historically, its local accountant may have needed to introduce external advisers for certain aspects of that work. Increasingly, the same local relationship can remain at the centre of the engagement while specialist colleagues elsewhere in the wider organisation are brought in as required.

Sumer provides an interesting example of how this exchange of expertise can work in both directions. Its Belfast-based Innovation Tax Relief team now leads service delivery across the UK, demonstrating that Northern Ireland is not simply drawing expertise from the wider group. Specialist capability developed locally is also being deployed across it.

That’s an important distinction.

The adviser who understands the business stays involved. The toolbox available to them simply becomes much bigger.

From Local Assignments to Bigger Opportunities

Perhaps one of the clearest commercial benefits is the ability to pursue work that previously might have been difficult for a smaller practice to resource or credibly tender for.

Robbie Barr is already seeing that at Azets:

Robbie Barr, Partner, Azets

“Being part of a Top 10 accountancy and advisory firm has opened doors to opportunities that may previously have been out of reach. We are being invited to tender for larger and more complex projects, while still maintaining the local, partner-led approach that our clients value.”

This is where scale can begin to have a multiplier effect.

A Belfast team may identify the opportunity and maintain the client relationship while being able to draw upon specialists, credentials, sector knowledge and additional resources from elsewhere in the group.

Even preparing to win the work becomes easier. Azets’ Belfast team can access specialist support for client meetings and tender submissions – infrastructure that would be expensive for a smaller independent practice to replicate.

There is also a geographical dimension. As part of the wider Azets organisation, Robbie’s team can support clients expanding across the UK, Ireland and Nordic markets by accessing colleagues and expertise within those territories.

Sumer’s experience provides another tangible indication of what increased investment can mean locally.

The Northern Ireland operation employed approximately 100 people before the merger. Today that figure stands at 130 – an increase of 30%.

For Brian Clerkin, access to wider specialist expertise and shared resources has strengthened the firm’s ability to respond to increasingly complex client requirements, pursue new opportunities and invest confidently in future growth.

For ambitious Northern Ireland businesses increasingly operating beyond the local market, all of this potentially changes what their local adviser can offer them.

More Time for the Work That Matters

Not every benefit is client-facing. Running an accountancy practice involves considerably more than accountancy.

Recruitment. HR. IT. Cybersecurity. Marketing. Business development. Risk. Compliance. Training. Procurement. Systems.

As firms grow, each becomes progressively more complicated. For a partner in an independent practice, that can mean spending a surprising amount of time dealing with matters that have little to do with advising clients or developing their people.

Moore Northern Ireland has been able to draw upon enhanced operational support across HR, marketing, IT and risk management.

For Jason McCallion, that additional infrastructure has a practical benefit.

Jason McCallion, Director, Moore Northern Ireland

“That added infrastructure helps us operate more efficiently and gives our teams more time to focus on delivering quality service and practical advice to clients.”

Azets identifies the same benefit. Access to in-house expertise across functions such as HR, marketing and business development means local partners don’t have to build every capability themselves.

Sumer also points to the benefits of shared resources and specialist expertise, giving partners greater capacity to concentrate on strategic advice, client relationships and developing the business.

Local leadership hasn’t stopped caring about recruitment, marketing, technology or people development. Instead, partners have specialists around them who can provide expertise, systems and execution.

That potentially allows partners to spend more time doing the things where they add most value: advising clients, winning work, mentoring staff and deciding where the business goes next.

The Technology Dividend

Technology may ultimately prove to be one of the biggest advantages of scale. The profession is already investing heavily in automation, data, cloud platforms and, increasingly, artificial intelligence. The challenge is that meaningful investment isn’t simply about buying another software licence.

Firms need to evaluate products, integrate systems, manage data and cybersecurity, train employees and determine where new technology can genuinely improve productivity or client service. For smaller firms, the investment of both money and management time can be substantial. A larger organisation can spread that investment across a much broader business.

At Sumer, investment in advanced audit, tax and advisory platforms has already changed how services are being delivered.

Brian believes these capabilities would have been difficult to achieve to the same extent as a standalone firm.

Brian Clerkin, Managing Partner, Sumer Northern Ireland

“By reducing routine administrative tasks, these technologies allow our teams to focus on professional judgement, problem-solving and delivering higher-value advice to clients.”

Moore and Azets are experiencing similar benefits.

Moore points particularly to investment around AI and digital tools, while Azets has already made significant group-level investment in technology and AI that its Northern Ireland operation expects increasingly to benefit from as integration continues.

The interesting point isn’t simply that larger firms can afford more technology.

It is what that technology allows their accountants to do.

If automation can reduce routine administrative work, talented people can spend more time on professional judgement, problem-solving, relationships and higher-value advice.

The opportunity isn’t simply to do the same work faster. It is to spend more time doing the work clients value most.

A Bigger Career Without Leaving Northern Ireland

This is perhaps the development we find most interesting from a recruitment perspective.

Historically, accountants wanting exposure to very large clients, specialist work or certain career paths could sometimes feel they needed to leave Northern Ireland. London, Dublin and other major financial centres inevitably offered a wider range of opportunities. That equation is changing.

As larger UK and international accountancy organisations invest in Northern Ireland, employees can increasingly gain exposure to broader work while remaining part of a Belfast-based team.

At Moore Northern Ireland, Jason has seen the difference:

Jason McCallion, Director, Moore Northern Ireland

“Our people can work alongside specialists across the wider group, access broader training and support, and see clearer pathways for progression, while still being part of our close-knit local team.”

Sumer’s experience provides another good example. Its people now have access to greater collaboration, new technology and broader career opportunities across the group. And consider what the Innovation Tax Relief example means from an employee’s perspective.

Someone developing their career in Belfast can now be part of a specialist Northern Ireland team that is leading service delivery across the UK. That’s a significant change in the career proposition.

Employees can potentially gain access to larger clients, specialist departments, broader training, new technology and career paths extending well beyond Northern Ireland – while retaining many of the advantages of being part of a local office.

You can be based in Northern Ireland without your career necessarily being limited by geography.

And That Changes Recruitment

There is another consequence. These firms potentially become more attractive recruitment propositions.

Candidates considering a move into practice – or deciding whether to remain there – frequently ask us similar questions.

What will my progression look like? Will I get exposure to interesting clients? Can I specialise? What training will I receive? What technology does the firm use? Will I get exposure outside Northern Ireland? What happens after Manager or Senior Manager?

Larger groups can potentially provide stronger answers to many of these questions. They can offer broader internal mobility, access to specialist teams, more structured learning, larger assignments and career paths that extend beyond one local office.

And we can see tangible evidence of investment in people.

Sumer Northern Ireland’s growth from 100 to 130 employees since joining the group is particularly noteworthy. It suggests that becoming part of a larger organisation doesn’t necessarily mean consolidation of jobs away from the local market; in this instance, it has coincided with significant expansion of the Northern Ireland team.

Brian sees that investment as part of the wider benefit of the combination:

Brian Clerkin, Managing Partner, Sumer Northern Ireland

“Ultimately, becoming part of a larger firm has strengthened our local presence, combining the relationships and insight developed over 30 years with greater technology, expertise and investment.”

At the same time, these local operations can continue offering something candidates value enormously: visibility.

People can still know the partners. They can understand where they fit within the local team. Their contribution can remain visible.

For recruitment and retention, combining those two propositions could prove extremely powerful.

Scale Without Losing Identity

There are, of course, challenges associated with any merger. Systems need to be integrated. New processes have to be learned. People need time to adjust. Cultures have to come together. And the benefits don’t arrive overnight.

Azets acknowledges that its own integration journey is still relatively young, with plenty still to learn and integrate. That acknowledgement is important. Successful integration isn’t simply about putting a larger logo above the door.

It is about finding the balance between the resources and discipline that come with scale and the entrepreneurial, relationship-driven culture that helped build the local business.

Get that balance right and something interesting happens. The local firm doesn’t necessarily become less local.

It becomes a better-resourced local firm.

What Happens Next?

Consolidation within accountancy isn’t finished.

We are likely to see further investment, mergers and acquisitions across the profession as firms respond to succession planning, technology investment, increasing regulation, competition for talent and clients demanding a broader range of services.

For Northern Ireland, that creates an interesting opportunity. The market already has a strong accountancy talent base and a well-developed professional services sector. Greater investment from larger UK and international accountancy groups adds another dimension. It brings capital, infrastructure, specialist expertise, technology and potentially new work into the market.

And the experiences of Moore Northern Ireland, Azets and Sumer Northern Ireland provide some early indications of what that can mean in practice.

At Moore, access to wider expertise, operational infrastructure, technology and training is helping the local team expand what it can offer clients and employees.

At Azets, the Belfast operation is being invited to compete for larger and more complex assignments, supported by specialist resources and an international network while maintaining direct, partner-led client relationships.

At Sumer, the Northern Ireland team has grown from 100 to 130 people, investment in technology is changing how work is delivered, and specialist expertise developed in Belfast is now supporting service delivery across the UK.

Different organisations. Different integrations. But remarkably similar experiences.

More capability. More investment. More opportunity.

For clients, that can mean keeping the adviser who understands their business while gaining access to capabilities previously associated with much larger firms. For partners, it can mean less time consumed by infrastructure and support functions and more time focused on clients, people and growth.

And for employees, it can mean something particularly valuable: a bigger career without necessarily having to leave Northern Ireland to find it.

Perhaps that is the real story behind the current consolidation of the Northern Ireland accountancy market. Not simply bigger firms. Local firms with bigger toolboxes, deeper expertise, better infrastructure and greater ambition.

Or put another way:

These firms haven’t simply become bigger. Their local teams have been given a bigger platform.

And for Northern Ireland’s clients, accountants and future accountancy talent, that could prove to be the most significant benefit of all.