Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP has announced a new partner in charge of the South West, following two and a half successful years under the leadership of Graham Randall.
Andrea Bishop, an experienced audit partner who has been at the firm for 10 years, takes over as Lead Partner to the 160-strong team in Bristol with immediate effect. She has overall responsibility for leading the team through its next stage of growth, working with local and international businesses.
Under Graham’s leadership, there has been a period of unprecedented growth at BDO. In spring 2012, the firm committed to significant investment in relocating to Bridgewater House, part of the Finzels Reach development, taking the flagship fifth floor of the 110,000 sq ft office.
The following year saw the first strategic merger of two accountancy firms in the UK for 15 years as BDO and PKF joined forces. Graham oversaw a smooth integration of the two firms as BDO reinforced its commitment to clients across the South West and South Wales. He is now keen to focus on growing the firm’s insolvency and restructuring practice while Andrea takes on the role of Lead Partner.
Prior to joining BDO, Andrea spent 10 years at EY and a year working at the CBI in London with the then Director-General, Sir Digby Jones. She has significant experience of working with large corporates and international businesses, as well as fast growth firms in the technology sector.
Commenting on her appointment, Andrea said: “I am delighted to take over the leadership of our full service office in Bristol. Within the last 18 months our partner numbers have trebled, our Global Outsourcing team has doubled in size and there have been a raft of new appointments in our Audit, Tax and Corporate Finance divisions.
“We have a highly experienced team and are already seeing the benefits of this investment with a large number of new clients and prospects. But we are not standing still. As the recovery takes hold, the market has opened itself up to new opportunities for both our client base and our people. Moving forward, we are looking to increase staff numbers by 20% and are currently in the process of taking an additional 6,000 sq ft of space at Bridgewater House to accommodate our growth ambitions.”
Graham Randall commented: “In the last couple of years we’ve witnessed significant change and I am very proud to have led the team during this exciting period. I feel it is the right time to hand over the reins to Andrea who is perfectly placed to lead our team. With the support of a highly respected partnership and the dedication of the hugely talented people at BDO, I’m confident that Andrea will continue to build upon the firm’s success in the region.
“I am now looking forward to focusing on our insolvency and restructuring team and getting back to a part of the job that I always enjoyed; helping distressed businesses formulate and implement strategies for restoring their businesses to growth. I get a lot of personal and professional satisfaction from supporting companies to preserve stakeholder value, safeguard jobs and ultimately help businesses grow and prosper into the future.”
