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Introducing Rickard Keen

Rickard Keen is celebrating a milestone year during 2010, as it marks 30 years since the firm was created from the merger of two Southend accountancy firms, Rickard Porter and Hartley Keen.

Rickard Porter was based in the offices in Nelson Street, Southend, where Rickard Keen remains to this day, while Hartley Keen was located just across the road. The firm opened a new office in Basildon five years ago.

And the firm’s 30th year has been a successful one, winning the inaugural Accountancy Firm of the Year award from the South Essex branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and continuing the growth in its business, despite the difficult economic climate.

Rickard Keen has always enjoyed high staff retention rates and two partners remain from the pre-merger days – Noel Kelleway who was a partner at Rickard Porter and the current managing partner Bob Sadler, formerly of Hartley Keen.

Fellow partners Bill Gould, Keith Bell and Alan Worsdale also worked for Hartley Keen before becoming partners in the new firm. By contrast, the firm’s sixth partner, Kate Davies, was only born a year before the merger took place!

Rickard Keen works with clients from all types and sizes of businesses, across many different industries and sectors. Its specialisms include audit and accounting, business services, tax planning and tax investigation. Its partners also offer expert knowledge of a number of industry sectors including agriculture, aviation, legal firms, property businesses and the medical profession.

The firm has launched a number of new services to improve the range of benefits offered to its clients in recent years, including its ‘client spotlight’ scheme of proactive business advice, Sage training workshops and a professional fee protection scheme, Legacy Services and tax-efficient investment schemes.