UK Firm Strengthens Expertise with Key Accounting Appointments
HURST has brought three experienced professionals on board as part of a push to grow its national presence and strengthen the teams that sit at the core of what the firm does. The new faces span both the business services and tax sides of the practice and each one arrives with a background that adds something genuinely useful to the work HURST is doing for its clients.
HURST Sets Its Sights on Becoming a 20 Million Pound Practice by 2028
HURST has been around since 1982 and operates out of Stockport, serving businesses across the UK and into Europe. Over the decades it has built up a client list that includes names like SJM Concerts, Lancashire County Cricket Club, Duerr’s and Creamline Dairies, which gives a sense of the range of organisations that rely on the firm for their compliance and advisory needs.
The firm is now in the middle of a serious growth push. The goal is to double in size and get to a 20 million pound turnover by 2028, and that ambition got a significant boost when HURST joined the Dains Group earlier this year. These three hires are a direct product of that plan. When a firm sets a target like that, it needs the right people in place to deliver it, and that is exactly what HURST is doing.
Sam Parry Joins as Senior Manager Bringing International Experience
Sam Parry is coming in as a senior manager in the business services team and he brings a career path that covers a lot of ground. He started out at KPMG, which is about as solid a foundation as you can get in UK accounting, before heading to Australia where he spent two years at William Buck. After coming back to the UK he was at Mercer and Hole in Milton Keynes before deciding to relocate to the north west for this role.
There is also something a bit different about Parry that stands out. Before his accounting career took hold he played semi-professional rugby union for Macclesfield and Harrogate. That kind of background tends to shape how someone works under pressure and within a team, and it is not hard to see why HURST found that combination of qualities appealing.
Harvey Hubbard Steps Into a Manager Role After Career at BDO and Kirk Rice
Harvey Hubbard is joining as a manager in the same business services team, having come through BDO where he completed his training and qualified. Before making the move to HURST he was working as an audit client manager at Kirk Rice down in Fleet, Hampshire, so like Parry this role has involved a relocation north.
That willingness to move for a position says something in itself. People do not uproot themselves for firms that do not have a compelling offer, and the fact that HURST is pulling experienced professionals away from established practices in the south suggests the firm is doing something right in terms of how it presents itself to potential hires.
Kate Oakes Strengthens the Tax Team as Corporation Tax Compliance Manager
Kate Oakes is the third appointment and she is coming into the tax team rather than business services, taking on the role of corporation tax compliance manager. Corporation tax is not the most glamorous corner of accounting but it is one of the most important, particularly for the kind of business clients HURST works with, and having someone with focused expertise in that area makes the team considerably stronger.
Business Services Remains the Engine Room of HURST’s Growth
The business services team is the biggest at HURST with over 70 people already in it, and it covers a wide range of work including audit, compliance, strategic advisory and business planning. A growing part of what that team does involves helping clients modernise how they handle their finances, whether that means moving to cloud accounting, tidying up data systems or taking on payroll and bookkeeping functions on an outsourced basis.
Parry and Hubbard both slot into a team that is clearly being built out with purpose rather than just filling seats. The firm has also brought in Aamilah Mohammed as an associate in the accounts and business advisory team. She joins from Pickard and Co where she was working as a junior accountant, and her arrival adds another layer of support as the team continues to grow.
What Leadership at HURST Says About These Appointments
Simon Brownbill, who leads practice development at HURST, was straightforward about what these hires mean for the firm. He said the three new starters each bring real experience, solid technical knowledge and a fresh way of looking at things that will make the teams around them better and improve what clients actually receive from the firm.
In his mind it’s not a fluke that people are being persuaded to make the switch from businesses the calibre of KPMG and BDO. It simply signifies the type of proposition that HURST can now present, and, boosted by the backing of the Dains Group and a well-defined trajectory for the business, it is a prospect that appeals to more experienced professionals.
Why These Hires Matter for the Broader UK Accounting Sector
What is happening at HURST is part of something bigger going on across UK accounting right now. Regional and mid sized firms are increasingly able to go head to head with the largest networks when it comes to attracting good people, and they are winning those conversations by offering things the big firms often cannot, including real client responsibility, a clearer sense of where your career is going and a working environment that does not feel anonymous.
For someone like Parry or Hubbard who has done their time at a large firm and built up strong technical skills, joining a place like HURST at this point in its journey makes a lot of sense. You get to bring everything you learned in a bigger environment and actually apply it somewhere where the decisions you make have a visible impact. That shift in how talent moves around the sector is worth paying attention to.
Conclusion
These three appointments at HURST tell a straightforward story about a firm that knows where it is going and is putting the right people in place to get there. The 20 million pound target for 2028 is ambitious but it is grounded in real momentum and the kind of senior hires that HURST is now making suggests it has both the plan and the people to back it up. For anyone watching how the UK accounting sector is evolving, firms like HURST are worth keeping an eye on.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Who has HURST recently appointed to its team?
HURST has brought in Sam Parry as senior manager and Harvey Hubbard as manager within its business services team along with Kate Oakes as corporation tax compliance manager in the tax team. Aamilah Mohammed has also joined the accounts and business advisory team as an associate.
What is HURST targeting by 2028?
The company wants to increase turnover from £10 million today to £20 million by 2028 – and it believes this doubling in size is possible thanks to increasing numbers of clients across the UK, and a strong financial backer in the Dains Group.
Where does HURST operate and who does it work with?
HURST is based in Stockport and works with businesses across the UK and Europe. Its clients include SJM Concerts, Kinaxia Logistics, Lancashire County Cricket Club, Duerr’s and Creamline Dairies among others.
Why are people from large firms choosing to join HURST?
Professionals who trained at places like KPMG and BDO are making the move because HURST offers something different at this stage of their careers. The chance to take on more responsibility, contribute to a firm with real growth behind it and work in a more personal environment is proving to be a strong draw.
