An acquisition built on chemistry
Chemistry, along with alignment of cultures and values, are among the elements that have underpinned a relatively smooth six months since Hutcheon Mearns became part of the Cooper Parry group, writes Rosemary Gallagher.
Professional services firm Hutcheon Mearns was acquired by next generation professional services group Cooper Parry, opening up new opportunities for both clients and colleagues.
Craig Hutcheon co-founded Hutcheon Mearns in Aberdeen over 10 years ago and is now relishing his role as BSO partner at Cooper Parry since the firms came together.
Craig explains that there hadn’t been an active plan to sell Hutcheon Mearns, but both companies were just too good a fit for it not to happen.
He says: “We were invited to dinner in Edinburgh by some of the senior leadership team at Cooper Parry. We got to know each other and we saw that we had similar mindsets. We’re a people business and it was clear that Cooper Parry is the same and looks after their people and clients.
“The transaction actually all passed in a bit of a blur within about six weeks of agreeing the deal.”
Craig lists four reasons why the deal made perfect sense:
● Chemistry - there was a clear cultural and values alignment. Both firms are bold and always look to do things differently from others in the market. Neither of the firms was scared to push boundaries;
● Cooper Parry had a small Scottish presence led by Neil Norman, but was providing services to clients that weren’t offered by Hutcheon Mearns. This meant there would be potential for a strong workflow and lead generation;
● Geographically – Hutcheon Mearns was formed in Aberdeen and expanded into Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It had only started building its presence in the central belt in late 2023 and had ambitious plans to move into England.
The deal meant it could do so with Cooper Parry as a recognised name with a 2000 person work force down South, rather than “going in cold”;
● Hutcheon Mearns’ services were different to those offered by Cooper Parry meaning it could support existing clients of the firm as well as attract new ones.
Reflecting on the half year since the acquisition, Craig again refers to the importance of chemistry. “It’s clear we’re on the same page. We’re like minded, culturally aligned and the team dynamic has been really positive. Having worked in a private equity
(PE)-backed business in the past I know it’s never easy to integrate firms. Change can be challenging, and when you’re a people-centric business like ours it’s even more challenging. But it helps if you have chemistry, and that is 100 per cent there,” he comments. “With 19 acquisitions in three years Cooper Parry knows what they’re doing! So we’ve found their integration approach to be supportive, structured, and organised. Service line-wise, it really has been business as usual while exploring the potential to expand across their existing infrastructure and vice versa.”
The deal has also been well-received by clients. “They see that it’s a really compelling fit,” says Craig. “We now have another whole range of things like audit and tax we can support them with and provide solutions for.”
He points out that Hutcheon Mearns brought new services to the table in its specialist interim, finance recruitment and business intelligence offerings.
“We’ve achieved a lot in a short space of time. For example, it only took a few months to fully rebrand the business and induct the whole team,” adds Craig.
Turning to areas that had to be worked through following the acquisition, Craig jokes that he had to get used to having a boss. He says: “Having built the business from scratch more than 10 years ago it was always going to be difficult passing over the reins.
“There is definitely a faster pace to the PE environment over private ownership and Cooper Parry moves at rocket speed but we’re remaining true to our roots of being a relationship driven firm. We’re already looking at ways in which our artificial and business intelligence offerings can be further rolled out internally across Cooper Parry to take us streets ahead of our competition on efficiency.”
Craig concludes: “We’ve been fortunate that Cooper Parry is open to hearing our ideas which is personally exciting for me, long may this continue.
“We love the environments they create for the team to work in; culture isn't a buzzword, it's baked into the firm’s DNA. And being part of a bigger business provides more career opportunities. We can keep our team; it provides longevity. There is also talk of a Tennents tap as part of our office fit out to lure in the clients! I can’t wait to show off our new Cooper Parry Aberdeen Hub once it's all done. Onwards and upwards.”
Find out more about Cooper Parry here.