WK Advisors and Accountants has the pleasure of announcing that our Christchurch office has merged with fellow Ōtautahi-based accountancy company, Hargreaves & Felton. The merged business will trade as WK Christchurch.
Rick Hill, Bev Stott of Hargreaves, and Hamish Morrow, Aaron Cassidy of WK Advisors and Accountants are excited to join forces to continue to provide an exceptional level of accountancy and advisory services to the greater Christchurch area.
The merger has come about from Rick and Bev’s desire to continue to provide a certain level of services to their clients. Given the changes over the past 18 months, Hargreaves on its own has simply become too small to provide.
WK: the Right Choice for the Clients
Bev and Rick put a lot of thought into the success of their client relationships, selecting a practice that aligned with their values and would be the best fit for the needs of their clients. They both felt strongly that WK was the best choice to merge with. “WK offers the level of service that our clients deserve, and can also supplement this with an additional wide range of specialist services going forward.”
“We have an obligation to all of our clients, to ensure they continue to be served well by a reputable, growing company, and to ensure their needs are met going forward,” Bev and Rick say. “We have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the journey with our clients at Hargreaves over the past 30 years, and we have great faith in the abilities of Aaron and his team to continue our work with them.”
Rick and Bev will work closely with the WK team during the coming months as they assist in transitioning and bringing the team at WK up to speed with the individual business needs of each Hargreaves client.
The WK Story
WK Advisors and Accountants have been operating in Marlborough since 1987, originally established as Winstanley Kerridge, before rebranding to be known as WK in 2015. An additional Christchurch office was introduced in 2018, led by director Aaron Cassidy. WK has also expanded into the Nelson area with the addition of an office there in 2020.
The expansion came at a time when Aaron was looking for a new challenge within the realm of business advisory. “When I started my journey of change I knew that I wanted to be part of a modern accounting practice,” he says. Aaron was then put in touch with the team at WK, and shortly after joined forces as lead Director to establish a WK branch in Christchurch, now based at 62 Riccarton Road.
“The WK Christchurch journey has so far been one of growth, and developing our relationship with Rick and Bev with this move is a fantastic next step in that journey,” Aaron says.
What this means for Hargreaves Clients
The WK Christchurch offices are just down the road from the Hargreaves office. From a client perspective, the anticipation is that business will continue as usual. “Minimising disruption to all clients is paramount; rest assured that from a client point of view, everything is status quo” Rick, Bev and Aaron agree.
The main disruption clients may notice is the anti-money laundering compliance, however, Hargreaves would have had to complete this for all clients over the next 18 months in any event. WK’s team in conjunction with Bev and Rick will be liaising with their clients to assist in the transition.
Rick and Bev look forward to introducing their clients to the WK team, and they will both remain available to assist with any matters as and when they may arise. If you would like any further information about the merger or would like to discuss your business needs further, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Aaron, Rick or Bev.
From left: Rick Hill and Bev Stott of Hargreaves, and Aaron Cassidy of WK Advisors and Accountants Christchurch