Fast-growing UK accountancy group hits ground running in Edinburgh

AMS Accountants Group said it had hit the ground running, securing a trio of new clients, after pushing into the Edinburgh market.

The firm - one of the UK’s fastest-growing accountancy and advisory practices - said it had sealed agreements with three clients ahead of its formal launch in the capital, generating expected annual revenue in excess of £200,000.

It is also in “active discussions” with two large UK-wide businesses - one headquartered in Edinburgh - looking to replace their existing finance function, with a further pipeline of ten businesses under active consideration.

Sean Dunn and Steven Fraser pictured in Edinburgh.

To support the growth, the firm is recruiting, with two Edinburgh-based roles being advertised now as part of a wider commitment to create as many as 200 jobs across Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

To lead the Edinburgh push, AMS has appointed Sean Dunn as partner and head of outsourced accounting. The Manchester-headquartered firm is based at Lochrin Square, in the heart of Edinburgh’s Exchange District, as it accelerates its ambition to build a £20 million Scottish business.

Dunn said: “Too many businesses still treat finance as a cost centre, something to be managed down rather than invested in. The reality is that poor financial control creates real risk, and the cost of getting it wrong almost always outweighs the cost of getting it right.

“What we’re building at AMS is different. It’s not about parachuting in a resource and stepping back - it’s about being a genuine partner to the businesses we work with: senior access, real transparency and a service built around what the client actually needs.”

The Edinburgh expansion follows the group’s acquisition of Infinity Partnership in Aberdeen, a transaction that created a new Scottish HQ for the firm and established the blueprint AMS intends to replicate in Edinburgh. The ambition is to build a full-service offering in the Edinburgh market, with senior lateral hires planned across audit, tax and advisory functions in the coming months. That operation is being led by AMS regional managing partner Steven Fraser and Wendy Atkinson, director of growth and partnerships (Scotland).

Fraser said: “When we launched in Scotland, we made a commitment to build something meaningful - not simply plant a flag and move on. What we did in Aberdeen with Infinity Partnership showed exactly what that looks like in practice, and Edinburgh is the next chapter of that story.

“Sean’s appointment delivers on that commitment in two important ways. It gives us a strong, senior presence in Edinburgh, while also adding a capability the wider AMS business has not had before. Outsourced accounting is one of the fastest-growing areas of client demand we are seeing, and the fact that we already have clients signed, revenue generating and a strong pipeline ahead of our formal launch tells you everything about how the market is responding.

“Together with our expansion into Edinburgh and the recent acquisition of Infinity Partnership in Aberdeen, this underlines the pace at which we are executing our Scottish growth plan. We are just getting started,” he added.