Accountants at the Birmingham office of Chantrey Vellacott DFK have been appointed auditors of England’s largest independent museums trust.
The firm, which has offices on Calthorpe Road, one of ten bases across the Midlands and South East, has been brought in by Birmingham Museums Trust as its external auditor.
The organisation was formed in 2012 when Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery joined forces with Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum and seven other venues to govern and manage the museum sites and collections owned by the parties.
The Trust is responsible for nine sites dating back as far as the 12th Century, including Aston Hall, Blakesley Hall, Museums Collections Centre, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and Weoley Castle and employs around 300 people.
Nick Simkins, partner at Chantrey Vellacott DFK in Birmingham, said the firm was delighted to be working with an organisation behind so many prestigious sites and collections.
He said: “Bringing the organisations together to form Birmingham Museums Trust was a major development for all parties involved.
“A lot of hard work has been put in by the trustees and the teams at the sites since the Trust was formed and over the last year this has extended the quality and reach of the collections to a much wider audience.
“The Trust recently secured just over £700,000 of Heritage Lottery Funding to help create a permanent home for its Staffordshire Hoard display and has also been awarded £20 million of funding from Arts Council England each year up until 2015.
“It’s exciting times for the Trust and Chantrey Vellacott DFK, which can itself trace its roots back to 1788, is equally excited to have been chosen to work with an organisation responsible for so many historic sites.”
Simon Cane, Director at Birmingham Museums Trust, added: “We look forward to working with Chantrey Vellacott DFK and feel the company’s history of quality and excellence sits alongside Birmingham Museums’ Trust’s own core values.”