Smith & Williamson gets green light from UK leader in sustainability planning

Smith & Williamson, an accountancy and financial services group in Hampshire, has won the audit and tax services contract for a UK leader in planning consultancy.

Land Use Consultants, which employs 100 professionally qualified staff and has offices in Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, appointed the south coast office of Smith & Williamson in Southampton following a three-way competitive pitch.

Some of Land Use Consultants’ high-profile projects include the £100m Eden Project at Cornwall, which saw the world’s largest greenhouses built on a disused china clay pit.

Another was the £1.4m Diana, Princess of Wales, Playground at Grade 1-listed Kensington Gardens, London.

Land Use Consultants’ clients in Hampshire include the New Forest National Park Authority - England’s eighth national park and the first to be created in half a century - and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, which manages 50-plus wildlife reserves. 

Chris Appleton, senior director with Smith & Williamson’s Assurance and Business Services department in Southampton, said: “We are delighted to be working with Land Use Consultants and to assist them as they grow their business and apply the green credentials they endorse.” 

Land Use Consultants are extremely focused on reducing their environmental impact, and were attracted to Smith & Williamson’s green credentials, he added.

The breadth and depth of services that Smith & Williamson can offer were a further major attraction.

Marc van Grieken, Land Use Consultants’ Principal, said: “We were impressed with Smith & Williamson’s proposal for high-quality audit services with the added benefit of corporate governance advice. Their approach fits well with LUC's core principles of sustainability.”

Max Nicholson, a conservationist, author and former head of the Nature Conservancy Council, founded Land Use Consultants in 1966.

The company rapidly carved out a reputation as a multi-disciplinary environmental practice with a pioneering approach to conservation and sustainability.

For example, it designed an environmentally-sensitive flood alleviation scheme in the early 1980s for Thames Water Authority that became the benchmark for scores of others across the UK.

The contract win is the latest in a series for the south coast office of Smith & Williamson.

New clients include Winchester-based insurance policy administrators Wessex Insurance, London and Southampton-based recruitment consultancy Preferred IT, Poole-based commercial heating specialist Hamworthy Heating and Larasian, a holding company in the New Forest which owns Lascar Electronics, a world leader in memory stick data logging.

For further information contact
Chris Appleton, Senior Director, Assurance and Business Services
023 8082 7600
chris.appleton@smith.williamson.co.uk

Press Office:
Kate Harrison / Jess Koslow 020 7131 4228/4264

Disclaimer
By necessity, this briefing can only provide a short overview and it is essential to seek professional advice before applying the contents of this article. No responsibility can be taken for any loss arising from action taken or refrained from on the basis of this publication. Details correct at time of writing.

Note to editor
Smith & Williamson is an independent professional and financial services group employing over 1,500 people. The group is a leading provider of investment management, financial advisory and accountancy services to private clients, professional practices and mid-to-large corporates. It operates from offices in London, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Glasgow, Guildford, Maidstone, Salisbury, Southampton and Worcester. Nexia Smith & Williamson is the audit practice of Smith & Williamson and is an independent company.

Smith & Williamson Limited
Regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a range of investment business activities. A member of Nexia International.

Nexia Smith & Williamson Audit Limited
Registered to carry on audit work and regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a range of investment business activities. A member of Nexia International.

Smith & Williamson Financial Services Limited
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority