“Ours is a 100-year-old firm doing very well—why would we sell?”

Ormsby & Rhodes Managing Partner David Marsh tells Barry McCall why one of Ireland’s oldest accountancy firms has embraced consolidation to future-proof its legacy

In an announcement that took many by surprise, Ormsby & Rhodes, one of Ireland’s longest established accountancy firms, revealed in January that it had agreed to merge with AAB, a UK firm backed by private equity.

Established in 1911 and consistently ranked in the top 20 firms in Ireland, Ormsby & Rhodes has revenues of over €7 million and provides audit, accounting, tax, payroll, company secretarial and business advisory support to a wide range of clients nationwide. 

The merger strengthens the firm’s international presence and access to the European market while also propelling AAB past the €120 million revenue mark.

“If you had asked me a year ago if a merger was on our agenda I would have said no,” says Ormsby & Rhodes Managing Partner David Marsh. “Ours is a 100-year-old firm doing very well, why would we sell?”

Consolidation: the way forward

Attendance at an event hosted by Chartered Accountants Ireland, at which one of the speakers spoke about his own firm’s merger, prompted a rethink. 

“I spoke to him afterwards and he explained that consolidation is the future for the sector; that there is so much regulation and other new developments coming, firms cannot stand still, or they will fall behind. They need to grow and move forward,” Marsh explains.

It is not a question of growing at the expense of others but rather positioning the firm to take full advantage of opportunities for growth. 

“There is lots of work out there for everyone, but you need to be large enough, and have the necessary resources in terms of staff, technology and international reach, to service clients,” Marsh says. 

“Consolidation is also good for the Institute as it means there are fewer firms to regulate in an increasingly complex world.”

Protecting a legacy

Before agreeing to any deal, Marsh was adamant that Ormsby & Rhodes’ core values and identity would be fully preserved.

“I am passionate about Ormsby & Rhodes and the legacy we have to look after. That is very, very important to me. Following our merger with AAB, we still have the same identity and the same values.”

Ormsby & Rhodes is the oldest accountancy firm in Ireland still trading under its original name. It was re-established in 1911 by Geoffrey Lewis, Neil Payne and Declan O’Luanaigh

“We have clients who have been with us for over 50 years,” Marsh says. “The length of time clients stay with us is quite amazing. They don’t leave us. The average tenure of our top 10 clients is over 20 years. 

“Some are large-scale businesses that could easily move to a Big Four firm, but they have chosen to stay with us because of the level of service we provide. 

“We have the same partners and the same identity and ethos, and we will keep on doing what we did before; that’s what AAB wants us to do.”

Succession and the next generation

Marsh first joined Ormsby & Rhodes as an audit manager in 1991 having trained with EY and worked at it’s Jersey office for four years before returning to Ireland. 

He subsequently left Ormsby & Rhodes in 1993 to set up his own firm, DJ Marsh & Associates. 

“The business went really well,” Marsh recalls. “I started with seven clients and had more than 100 by the time I accepted the offer to merge the firm with Ormsby & Rhodes in 2000.”

Three senior partners have retired from the firm in recent years, prompting Marsh to carefully consider its future leadership. 

“I decided to bring young partners through. I am 64 but most of our partners are in their forties with some in their early thirties. It’s quite unusual to have an age-profile like this. Four of our 10 partners are female. The heart of the firm are these 10 partners.”

The decision to explore a possible merger was taken following a meeting of the firm’s equity partners early in 2024. 

“After that, we held meetings with others in the industry to get their views and opinions and we decided it was the right thing for us,” says Marsh. 

“The priority for us was to form a partnership with a company we could grow with while also retaining our core identity. We didn’t want to just be subsumed into a larger organisation.”

This is where AAB came in. “AAB is a Scottish firm that was the same as us five years ago when they decided to grow the business through consolidation with private equity backing,” Marsh says.

“We had a number of meetings with them, and we found both sides liked what the other was doing. 

“Chartered Accountants Ireland was great throughout the process. They were so quick at coming back whenever we had questions.”

The benefits of the merger for Ormsby & Rhodes are significant, the first being the firm’s scope to service clients doing business in the UK. 

“If one of our clients is doing business in the UK, we now have AAB to look after them and we can look after AAB clients here in Ireland,” says Marsh.

Enhanced technology is another benefit: “We were about to spend a huge amount on new and upgraded systems. AAB had all of that and we are now able to access their platforms, creating efficiency and additional capacity to service clients.”

Future of accountancy

While he sees the advent of newer technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) as important, Marsh believes the human touch will always be critical in the accounting profession and the wider business world.

“AI is just another tool we will use. At the end of the day, it’s the accountant that makes the decisions and signs off on the accounts,” he says.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are another key focus area for accountants currently. 

“AAB is very big in ESG and has two partners and a team of four in this area. We have large clients who need this support. If a company has private equity investment, it needs to complete sustainability and ESG reports and the same applies to multinational firms,” Marsh says.

“Transfer pricing is also huge, and AAB has a dedicated team for this, which is really important for us. 

“For example, tax in the UK is changing very rapidly, and you have to be on the ball there. Corporation tax is 26 per cent in the UK and that’s where transfer pricing comes in. You need to get it right.”

Marsh sees further potential for AAB’s Virtual Finance Service in the Irish market. “Mid-sized companies may not have the resources to pay a full-time chief financial officer (CFO),” he explains. 

“Instead, they can outsource the CFO role to AAB on a cost-effective basis and get access to an experienced professional who will spend part of their time acting as CFO for them and the rest of their time looking after other clients.”

Right now, Ormsby & Rhodes is preparing to host the Europe, Middle East and Africa conference of the BKR International association of independent accounting and advisory firms in Dublin in June. 

“BKR International is a referral association, and we have been a member for 30 years. We have developed relationships with member firms in countries including France, Germany, America and Australia. It is a fantastic association for developing relationships and new business,” Marsh says.

More than 200 delegates are expected to attend the conference. “It represents a huge opportunity to promote Ireland; to show what we can do here; and generate new business for ourselves and other member firms.”

Marsh’s ultimate ambition for Ormsby & Prentice stretches much further into the future, however.

“We want to be a very strong mid-tier partner led firm with a reputation for providing excellent service to clients,” he says. 

“I believe we can double or treble in size over the next five years but, ultimately, I want to grow a practice that is sustainable for the next 100 years. 

“That’s what this is about. I like to think Ormsby & Rhodes, with AAB, will grow for another century.”