• Swindon & Wiltshire Appointments
• Thursday October 17 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Accountancy firm Monahans appoints new operations partner

South West accountancy firm Monahans has appointed Sophie Austin to the newly established position of operations partner.

The move comes amidst the integration to the Sumer Group earlier this year, as Monahans looks to cement its position as the leading accountancy and business advisory firm in the south-west, and continue its ever-growing presence in the region.

Following the investment from ‘business champions’ Sumer, the firm is targeting an ambitious organic growth trajectory of 40 per cent from 2023 to June 2026, as well as on identifying and onboarding new firms, such as Gloucestershire-based McGills and The Insolvency Company in Taunton, which joined the Monahans Group in August.

The firm – which has 10 offices across the South West including Swindon, Trowbridge, Bath, and Chippenham – is exploring several potential targets going forward.

Monahans has undertaken extensive reviews of its systems and ways of working, to ensure efficiency across the board. Key to streamlining these acquisitions is an operating model that minimises the impact on client facing individuals and the subsequent delivery of services to clients.

Sophie has been promoted to operations partner, a COO-equivalent position, to lead on integration of new partnerships and management of support functions.

Sophie, who joined Monahans as HR partner in 2018 and has subsequently spearheaded the firm’s ESG drive, including leading on an application for B Corp certification, now takes on the additional eeresponsibilities of marketing, business development, and IT from an integration perspective along with various compliance functions.

She will also oversee GDPR and data protection, commercial negotiations with suppliers.

“The success Monahans has seen in the last 12 months can largely be attributed to the consistency of our fantastic team and its sustained provision of expert business advice to clients, despite the backdrop of a turbulent financial market,” said Sophie.

With further acquisitions due, it’s imperative that this advice continues to be imparted seamlessly through the subsequent team integrations, and I am honoured to oversee the firm’s future growth in terms of the efficiency of delivery of partnerships.”

Simon Tombs, managing partner at Monahans, adds, “Our involvement with Sumer will greatly benefit Monahans in the coming months, through various Group projects and activities, presenting opportunities for greater efficiencies and collaboration to strengthen our market presence.

“As part of this, and the ensuing organisational changes, discussions have been ongoing regarding our leadership structure. We have taken steps to review and improve our operating model to ensure that these activities and new initiatives, along with our business support functions, are managed and coordinated.

“With her proven track record of leading change programmes, Sophie was the standout candidate to lead this evolution of Monahans’ working practices as we build towards further exciting developments for the firm.”

Sumer is a collaboration of the best in business and services, championing SME growth across the UK and Ireland – the Sumer family now numbers 13 regional ‘Champion’ hubs (including Sumer Law) and continues to expand its reach.