Leading Accountancy and Advisory firm, Johnston Carmichael has opened a London office as part of a strategic expansion of its financial services sector offering.

The new location is the first premises the firm has opened outside Scotland since it was established over 80 years ago.

The initiative is being led by Ewen Fleming, financial services partner, who joined Johnston Carmichael in March 2019 and has over 30 years’ experience in financial services in both industry and advisory roles. His areas of expertise include retail banking, wealth management and business consulting.

Since being appointed Ewen has led the charge on expanding Johnston Carmichael’s financial services capability and meeting growing demand for its experienced and dedicated team across the UK. Last year Johnston Carmichael led the high profile, independent review of ten proposed Royal Bank of Scotland branch closures.

Ewen is based between the London office, located at Birchin Court in the heart of the City, and Johnston Carmichael’s large Edinburgh premises on the capital’s Melville Street.

He said: “With London and Edinburgh well established as the UK’s key financial services hubs, launching an office in the UK capital is the obvious next step for Johnston Carmichael in expanding its financial services offering. It will enable us to work much more closely with our clients based in the south east of England and it’s also important to building our network of contacts, including potential new staff as we add to our growing team.”

Recent hires over the summer for Johnston Carmichael’s London office include manager Sam Church and consulting senior Hyder Cheema.

Sam is an experienced business consultant with a strong track record in leading client engagements involving complex change and technology optimisation. He has developed a wide range of demonstrable expertise from his broad experience from data innovation & visualization to strategy development & implementation in banking and insurance markets.

Hyder is a Big 4 trained consultant with extensive domestic and international experience in the Financial Services sector delivering complex change and performance optimisation.

Ewen continued: “We’re delighted to welcome Sam and Hyder to the team which is focused on helping businesses to successfully adapt to the changing environment and take advantage of the growth opportunities in the market place."

The UK financial services industry is amongst the biggest worldwide and in 2018 contributed £132bn to the UK economy, representing 6.9% of total economic output. The sector was largest in London where almost half – 49% - of its output was generated.

Financial services is one of Johnston Carmichael’s fastest growing business areas, offering a wide range of services from risk and assurance, including regulatory compliance and advice, to tax and VAT, performance improvement, distribution strategy, deal support and managing complex change.

Andrew Walker, CEO of Johnston Carmichael, said: “Our London office is a very significant step forward for our firm. Although we already carry out a range of cross-border work, this is our first permanent geographical base outside of Scotland."

“The UK has a long and proud history of providing financial services; indeed, it is where some of the world’s first banks were established."

“We are committed to playing a bigger role in the sector and contributing to a positive, resilient industry. Our London office is central to achieving our ambitious aims.”

The London office brings to 13 the number of locations operated by Johnston Carmichael across the UK, including its recently launched office in Dundee. The firm is also a member of PKF International, a global network of accountancy firms operating in 440 cities across five continents to help their clients who are expanding and trading internationally.