MEMBER NEWS: AAB announces merger with leading all-Ireland firm FPM

May 5, 2022
MEMBER NEWS: AAB announces merger with leading all-Ireland firm FPM

Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB), the tech-enabled business critical services group, today announced a merger with FPM, a leading all-Ireland independent accountancy and business advisory firm, building on its regional presence across the UK and creating a significant new hub across the island of Ireland in line with its ambitious growth plans.

FPM is an independent audit, accounting, tax and business advisory firm with revenue of c£9.5m and a team of over 120 people across 5 office locations in Belfast, Balbriggan (Dublin North), Newry, Dungannon and Mallusk. The 9 FPM shareholder directors are all remaining in their current roles and will continue to drive the growth of FPM as part of the AAB Group.

FPM’s complementary geographic presence will further enhance the wider AAB Group as a key player in the UK & Irish accountancy and business services markets, adding Ireland to its other regional hubs across Scotland and England.

AAB Group has grown rapidly in the last 12 months, following 3 M&A transactions and investment from August Equity in October 2021. This merger with FPM is another major step forward in AAB’s growth journey as it becomes a group with over £50m in revenue and 550+ team members in 10 offices across the UK and Ireland.

Following the merger, AAB shall continue to actively pursue its organic and M&A growth plans, looking to strengthen its team with further recruitment across all locations, and continue to identify attractive M&A opportunities which augment the group’s current activities.

Graeme Allan, Chief Executive at AAB said: “This merger is a very important milestone for the group. With FPM, we gain an impressive team with a great reputation and significant presence across the island of Ireland. There is a strong cultural fit between our firms, and at the heart of this is a passion for helping team members and clients achieve their goals, which makes us hugely excited about the opportunity this merger presents.”

Managing Director at FPM, Feargal McCormack, added: “We are delighted to be merging with AAB. The synergies across our teams, service provision and sector specialisms provide a fantastic platform for exciting future growth. In addition to this, we were attracted to AAB as the group has impressive global connections and experience working with high-growth SME businesses and large corporations internationally. This instantly gives us the capabilities to do even more for our clients, wherever they wish to do business across the world, whilst also providing our teams with enhanced opportunities to progress and develop as part of a larger group.”

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AREG is the original energy transition organisation, working on behalf of members to empower the energy supply chain and champion its expertise. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to find out more about membership.

AREG has played an important role in the growth of Scotland’s renewable energy sector, engaging the supply chain and developing the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. However, we are only at the very beginning of the transition that AREG was established to both lead and support so there are still opportunities for companies to get into the constantly evolving renewables supply chain. We look forward to continuing our work together as renewables builds on its place as Scotland’s main source of power, and as we seek to deliver real change in the crucial areas of heat and transport.

Scottish Renewables

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with AREG since its formation. The recent progress in the developments of offshore wind projects by Equinor and Vattenfall are as a result of the work of the group over many years. The north-east is known as the oil and gas capital of Europe. At the Chamber, we believe the region must evolve its position to being recognised as the energy capital. Whilst hydrocarbons will continue to be essential in driving our economy for years to come, the generation of renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in providing cost-effective power, innovative development and economic growth.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

The enthusiasm and dedication of the early group that would become AREG was fundamental in us choosing to launch All-Energy in Aberdeen. The first tiny show was held in 2001, and AREG’s Chairman at the time, Jeremy Cresswell, played such an active role that I often describe him in terms such as All-Energy’s ‘midwife’. All-Energy is now the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference in terms of number of attendees, space booked, and number of exhibiting companies. As AREG became firmly established, their presence and support for the event grew spectacularly over the years. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable input.

All-Energy

Vattenfall has forged a strong working relationship with AREG through the development of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre. AREG has worked tirelessly on behalf of the North East and it can take enormous credit for the growth of sustainable energy in the region and the path it has cleared for the region to capture further investment.

Vattenfall

Aberdeen City and Shire is emerging as a key location for renewables by successfully transferring its world-class oil and gas expertise into the sector and AREG has done much to advance this through a broad range of initiatives. It has acted as a catalyst in driving further investment in the local economy by engaging with companies, Government, public bodies and existing projects and we have been pleased to support their efforts. Scottish Enterprise will continue to engage with AREG as we increase Scotland’s use of renewable energy.

Scottish Enterprise