Accountancy firm BDO has appointed a new lead partner for the South West as it prepares to grow its staff by a fifth and expand its regional head office.
Andrea Bishop, an experienced audit partner who has been at the firm for 10 years, has taken over from Graham Randall, who has led the 160-strong team Bristol-based team for the past two-and-a-half years.
She has overall responsibility for leading the team, which covers Swindon and Wiltshire, through its next stage of growth, working with local and international businesses. BDO plans to increase staffing by 20% and is in the process of taking an additional 6,000 sq ft of space at its Bridgewater House regional base in Bristol to accommodate the growth.
The regional practice has enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth under Graham Randall’s leadership. Just over two years ago it committed to the significant investment of relocating to the Bridgewater House, part of Bristol’s Finzels Reach development, becoming the flagship building’s first tenant by taking nearly 9,000 sq ft on the fifth floor of the 110,000 sq ft office.
In April last year BDO and mid-tier rival PKF joined forces in the first strategic merger of two accountancy firms in the UK for 15 years. Mr Randall oversaw a smooth integration of the two firms in the South West and Wales, which involved the closure of PKF’s Bristol office.
Mr Randall will now focus on growing the firm’s insolvency and restructuring practice.
Prior to joining BDO, Andrea Bishop spent 10 years at ‘big four’ accountants EY and a year working at the CBI in London with the then director-general Sir Digby Jones.
She has significant experience of working with large corporates and international businesses as well as fast-growth firms in the technology sector.
She said: “I am delighted to take over the leadership of our full service office in Bristol. Within the last 18 months our partner numbers have trebled, our global outsourcing team has doubled in size and there have been a raft of new appointments in our audit, tax and corporate finance divisions.
“We have a highly-experienced team and are already seeing the benefits of this investment with a large number of new clients and prospects. But we are not standing still. As the recovery takes hold, the market has opened itself up to new opportunities for both our client base and our people.”
Graham Randall added: “In the last couple of years we’ve witnessed significant change and I am very proud to have led the team during this exciting period. I feel it is the right time to hand over the reins to Andrea who is perfectly placed to lead our team.
“With the support of a highly-respected partnership and the dedication of the hugely-talented people at BDO, I’m confident that Andrea will continue to build upon the firm’s success in the region.
“I am now looking forward to focusing on our insolvency and restructuring team and getting back to a part of the job that I always enjoyed; helping distressed businesses formulate and implement strategies for restoring their businesses to growth.
“I get a lot of personal and professional satisfaction from supporting companies to preserve stakeholder value, safeguard jobs and ultimately help businesses grow and prosper into the future.”
Pictured: Graham Randall and Andrea Bishop
