Moore and Smalley
Lonsdale & Partners history
In the early 1960s, Lancastrian, Jack Colman took over the management of Queen's Square accountancy firm Thornton & Stanley and under his careful stewardship the firm became one of the leading advisory firms in Lancaster.
Meanwhile, around the same period, Hacking Hargreaves took over the helm at Morecambe based accountants, Tyson Westall & Co. Under Hargreaves' management there were big changes; the Central Drive firm changed its name to Thornton Baker and was relocated further North to Common Garden Street in Lancaster.
At this time Lancaster was beginning to evolve in to the bustling city that it is today. The local economy was strong, unemployment figures were low and new businesses were constantly either being created in or relocated to the historic Roman city.
Towards the end of 1977 the two firms merged, becoming Thornton Baker, and relocated to larger premises at Priory Close. The merger created, at that time, one of the largest accountancy firms in the region as Thornton Baker, as was, had also acquired Malcolm Richardson of Kendal in the early 1970s.
In the 1980s Thornton Baker became Grant Thornton. On January 1 1986, as a result of a management buyout by partners Chris Oddie, Alan Westall, Tony Sowden, Paul Adams and Warwick Wilson, Grant Thornton became Lonsdale & Partners.
Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s Lonsdale & Partners expanded, even further, into Cumbria and opened up an office in the market town of Kirkby Lonsdale, enabling the firm to offer specialist advice to not only individuals and general businesses but also to the niche agricultural market. The firm also relocated its Kendal office to Murley Moss in the late 1990s.
The firm joined the growing list of pre-eminent law and accountancy firms in the region in 2003 by becoming a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
This brings us to the present day. In April 2008, Lonsdale & Partners merged with Moore and Smalley. The decision by current partners, Joyce Tombs, Michael Proudfoot, David Evans, Ian MacGregor and David Bennett to merge with the firm has been made to ensure that clients, old and new, have access to the best resources and business minds that the region has to offer.
In the last 40 years the firm has experienced many changes, and will undoubtedly face more as the years go by. The ethos of the firm since its creation in the 1960s has always been to provide the best possible service for its clients. Every change that has been made, and has yet to be made, is done with clients' best interests in mind.
Bottomline Newsletter
- Bottomline - Autumn 2008
Business is Bloomin'
