Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon joins RSM and rebrands as RSM
Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon, one of the larger accountancy and consultancy firms in Ireland, is severing its links with the Baker Tilly network and joining the RSM network instead. The business will be rebranded as RSM.
With 12 partners and more than 120 staff, Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon (BTRG) is the 8th largest business advisory firm in Ireland. The company’s service portfolio spans, among others, audit and assurance, tax, corporate restructuring, risk advisory, transaction support and outsourced accounting and compliance services. The company is headquartered in Dublin, and has further offices in Offaly & Laois, serving clients mainly in the property and construction, not-for-profit, education, pharmaceuticals, waste/green energy and technology sectors.
Per the 3rd of May 2016, BTRG will move to RSM International, a global network with 38,500 staff in 120 countries and an annual network fee income of $4.6 billion, and one of Baker Tilly’s main rivals in the landscape. As part of the transition, Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon will serve as RSM's Irish member firm and rebrand as RSM. The firm’s ownership structure will remain unchanged and Managing Partner John Glennon (also the founder) will continue to lead the firm, into what he has described as an “exciting new era”, focused on building its base of Irish clients and further extending its global reach.
“Membership in the dynamic global network of RSM will enable us to move forward into an exciting era of growth that will bring huge benefits to our firm, our clients, partners and staff.”
One of the main reasons for the switch is the growing internationalisation of the firm’s portfolio. Around half of the new clients acquired in the last two years have an international perspective, says Glennon, and with this in mind, the firm decided to team up with “one of the global leaders in servicing the needs of mid-market businesses.” He adds: “All business is global now, and we are responding to that.”
As part of its service to international clients, Ireland based RSM has tied trilateral agreements with RSM in the US (formerly McGladrey) and RSM in the UK (revenues of £292 million) and will work closely together with their experts in London and Chicago. Later this year further dedicated Irish desks will also be opened at the RSM offices in New York and San Francisco. “We plan to support clients with a local perspective combined with collective knowledge and resources of our global colleagues. We are looking forward to working with other RSM firms around the world in delivering services to our client base.”
Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM International, says that he is “delighted to welcome the partners and staff” in Ireland: “It is critical that we have a strong firm in Ireland that can support our delivery of global client services, particularly with Ireland’s largest trading partners’ – the US and the European Union.”
In June last year RSM rebranded and harmonised all of its member firms worldwide to RSM. “RSM’s new global brand, messaging and strategy resonates with our own, so the transition to this vibrant, forward-thinking network will be a seamless one”, Glennon adds. Looking further ahead, Glennon and Stephens have set ambitious targets for the Irish team in the years to come. “We plan to expand the workforce by 50% over the next five years.” In 2016, RSM's Irish member firm, which was formed in 1987*, aims at taking on 20 accountants and advisors.
* Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon was formed in April 2007 by the merger of PKF Ryan Glennon and Baker Tilly O’Hare.
