Sumer Northern Ireland might be a new name in the accountancy/business advisory marketplace, but the growing team at the firm’s Glendinning House office in Belfast city centre remains as it was.
“T he people that our clients have dealt with over the years are all still here,” says Managing Director Brian Clerkin. “We’ll continue doing what we’ve always done. But we’ll be doing it with the backing of, and access to, one of the UK’s fastest-growing accountancy groups.”
Sumer Northern Ireland was born in July out of the Belfast office of ASM Chartered Accountants, a firm established in Belfast back in the mid-1990s and one with a strong reputation as one of the main challenger firms in the local marketplace.
“We’ve got new branding, a new website and a new look,” Brian adds. “But, at our core, we’re determined to keep the same values and the same approach to how we advise our clients in Northern Ireland’s business community.
“Thanks to the link with Sumer nationally, we can tap into a much broader range of services and specialist knowledge. It was always a good fit for us as a Northern Ireland firm, and it’s a move that has been well received by our staff and clients alike.
“Sumer’s tagline ‘Your Business Champion’ is very appropriate. It reflects the fact that the Sumer Group is firmly focussed on the SME sector. So that’s a great fit for us and the Northern Ireland business landscape, to the exclusion of larger listed organisations.”
Nationally, Sumer is a Top 15 practice with a total staff of some 1,400 spread across 12 hub locations, which are typically, strong regional accountancy firms with 100-250 staff. Sumer Northern Ireland has a team of around 100 at its Belfast base, a headcount that’s due to grow to 126 by the end of September as the firm continues to expand.
“Nationally and locally, the SME sector has been underserved by the Big Four firms,” Brian Clerkin adds. “But these companies need advice now more than ever. There are plenty of challenges and headwinds out there.
“Consumer confidence is still shaky, inflation is down but has a bit to go in certain sectors and much the same could be said of interest rates. A lot of employers in this region are also wrestling with the consequences of the National Living Wage.
“What’s more, I think there will be a nervousness between now and the new Chancellor’s first Budget in the autumn. I think we know which taxes won’t be hit, but there are others, including capital gains and inheritance tax, that will probably be targeted. So, there is a fair bit of uncertainty in the air.”
Now that the rebranding process is complete, Sumer Northern Ireland has ambitious plans to expand going forward. “We plan to grow by acquisition as well as organically, and we’ve had some positive discussion to date around the region,” he says.
The Belfast firm operates across audit, tax, corporate finance and insolvency, but also has a number of specialist areas of expertise, including forensic accounting, public sector, hospitality, internal audit and IT audit, managed by a team of 10 Directors and four Associate Directors.
The tax team, led by Caroline Keenan and Richard Blakeman, has a particularly strong reputation in the marketplace and includes a specialist unit working on R&D tax relief advice for local manufacturing and aerospace firms. Meanwhile, a hospitality team led by Michael Williamson and Adrian Patton works with some of the region’s major hospitality operators and produces the annual NI Hotel Industry Survey.
Like most of Northern Ireland’s larger accountancy firms, Sumer NI has to engage in the ongoing war for talent. “Accountants have more opportunities now than they’ve ever had,” says Brian Clerkin. “That’s something that is now the norm for most companies. But we position ourselves well by offering good packages, flexibility, a bright, modern office in the city centre, and work that our colleagues enjoy.
“We offer our trainee accountants a broader range of experience. None of them generally want to specialise at that initial stage of their career. We might be part of a larger group, but we’re still recruiting and managing our personnel in Belfast. What’s more, we invest in our graduate intake as we know what trainees are looking for. At a strategic level, we’re investing in our next generation of leaders.”
The accountancy sector, says Brian Clerkin, has been through plenty of change…and more is on the way. “I think we’re seeing a real change in the structure of the profession, which hadn’t changed for many years. And the shape of the so-called Big Four is changing too. They’re less recognisable these days as accountancy firms given their scope, and that brings opportunity for us.
“And, of course, we’ve all had to adapt positively to changes and developments in technology. I remember a teacher at school telling me that there was no point in becoming an accountant because the advent of computers would do away with the need for us. Fortunately, he was very wrong.
“People buy from people and, in our world, people take advice from people. That’s not going to change with technology, AI included. Sumer has a great bunch of people and a great culture, and the future is very bright, indeed.