Audit, accountancy and tax services firm BDO Guernsey is now an independent firm within the global BDO organisation in its own right following a management buyout of the business by the Guernsey firm's board of directors.

Richard Searle, André Trebert, Justin Hallett and Stuart Phillips have purchased the business from BDO LLP in the UK making BDO Limited a wholly-owned Guernsey company.

The company, which employs over 80 people on the island, has a Guernsey heritage which extends back over 120 years when English accountancy firm GN Read, Son & Cocke established its Guernsey branch. The business has been part of the BDO international network since the early 1990s and merged with BDO LLP in the UK in 2012 to draw on synergies between the UK and Channel Islands markets at the time.

Mr Searle, Managing Director of BDO Guernsey, said the change represented an exciting point in the firm's growth story.

"As part of the UK firm, and as a member of the global BDO organisation, BDO in Guernsey has seen tremendous growth over the last six years, both in our client portfolio and our employee base," he said. "Today, Guernsey is experiencing change across the private and public sectors as well as to the island's wider position in global markets.

"Our UK and Guernsey leadership teams have agreed that now is the right time to reinstate a management decision-making model in Guernsey which can directly apply BDO's future interests to local current trends and developments - and we're really looking forward to doing that.

"The BDO experience will remain consistent and focused on delivering exceptional service to all of our clients in Guernsey, wherever they're located. The leadership team here in Guernsey will progress our next phase of growth through focused local expertise and autonomy, combined with the strength of our global organisation to take our business forward."

BDO's EMEA region CEO Trond-Morten Lindberg said: "I'm glad to see BDO Guernsey taking this step. BDO's global strategy is founded on the collective strengths of our firms and what we can achieve together, pooling our expert knowledge for the benefit of our clients. This approach relies on being able to provide specialist local market understanding that can fuel international growth."

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.weareguernsey.com.

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