Our History

Today, we pride ourselves on being innovative and progressive in everything we do. But we’re also immensely proud of our history and the things we’ve achieved over more than 80 years of business.

1930s

Cyril Haines Watts qualified as an Accountant whilst acquiring his first clients.

1940s

The first office was set up in a wooden shed, a desk, two chairs, a filing cabinet and a shared phone.
Within the first year, two members of staff were recruited and new larger premises found.

1950s

With no proactive sales drive, more and more clients came on board having heard ‘word of mouth’ about the customer driven one stop shop accountancy practice.

1960s

A second partner joined and the acquisitions began. New services were introduced including Tax and Mechanised Bookkeeping.

1970s

Our business continues to grow due to new and more complex legislation.
New premises were found and by the end of the decade we boasted eight offices in the Thames Valley area.

1980s

We expand our office network across the UK.
We set up specialist divisions to offer clients a better range of services.

1990s

Tremendous organic growth achieved and we became a Top 20 firm in the UK.
We became a true alternative to the then Big 5, with comprehensive services and expertise.
Additional specialist divisions are added and we became a leading advisor on Tax Planning.

2000s

We focus on being geographically close to our clients, with many new offices opening.
Significant expansion of non-core services to ensure we continue to offer the ultimate ‘full service’ for all clients.

Emphasis placed on our strength as true business advisors – not merely accountants.