One of the region’s leading wealth management and professional services firms in Bristol has seen headcount in its Assurance and Business Services (ABS) team grow by 40 per cent in just two years – despite the ongoing recruitment challenges in the sector.

Evelyn Partners, the leading integrated wealth management and professional services group created from the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson, has taken on 20 new staff across all levels following the recent appointment of new audit partner Mark Bishop.

And Kelly Jones, partner and head of ABS at Evelyn Partners in Bristol, says this number will soon be boosted when the largest ever cohort of 12 apprentices and graduates joins the firm for the 2022 intake.

“As everyone knows, the labour market is tight at the moment and many audit teams are under-resourced,”

“Despite this and the challenges of the pandemic, the Bristol team has grown from 50 when I took over two years ago to 70 now, and it will soon be up to 82, allowing us to continue to provide an excellent service to our new and existing clients.

“Having recently gone through our merger and rebranding, this is an exciting time to be joining Evelyn Partners and I believe the key factor behind our growing headcount is that we can offer a better working culture than many of our competitors, ensuring we have a high level of retention of existing staff as well as attracting new talent to service our growing client base.”