We sat down with People and Culture Director Hayley Smith and Operations Director Ian Mackie to hear the story behind the largest independent accountancy firm in the North East of Scotland.
Hall Morrice is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and has remained independent throughout. The firm now has around 86 staff, offering accounts, audit, tax, business advisory and payroll services, with one employee who has been with the firm for 47 years.
Much of that growth has come recently. Four years ago, headcount stood at around 45, with the partners handling HR, compliance and marketing between them on top of client work. Since then, staff numbers and revenue have both more than doubled, and the firm has invested in the infrastructure needed to support a larger business: a people and culture function, an internal finance team that didn't exist two years ago, an external PR and marketing partner, and a dedicated digital transformation specialist.
"When you're above that level of headcount, you need to put in additional infrastructure. That's what facilitates and allows the firm to grow, because you've essentially got the back office that can cope with a higher headcount and a higher client portfolio. It's taken a lot of hard work and a lot of time to get to where we are."
With recruitment and retention among the profession’s biggest challenges, particularly at intermediate and senior levels, Hall Morrice made a deliberate decision to invest more heavily in developing talent from within. In 2022–23, the firm had six students studying towards a professional qualification; four years later, that number is approaching 30, with the student cohort increasing year on year. In 2025, Hall Morrice also recruited its first graduate apprentice, while continuing to build relationships with local schools to encourage more young people to consider a career in accountancy and build a sustainable pipeline of future talent for the North East of Scotland.
"We decided growth from within was fundamental to our strategy. We now have a 'no barriers' approach to development. If you've got skills and a desire to do something that will help your development and also be a value to the firm, we will absolutely allow you that opportunity to do so. We introduced career mapping, a refreshed performance and development framework to provide a clear focus on creating transparency around career progression”
One example is the firm's digital transformation team, which began life almost by accident. A payroll analyst with a self-described "techie, nerd" streak mentioned a personal interest in technology in an otherwise unrelated conversation; today he leads Hall Morrice's digital transformation function, has represented the firm on an industry panel about the future of AI in the profession, and is preparing to demonstrate an internally developed AI application to partners next week.
A number of years ago, Hall Morrice's leadership team made a clear decision that remaining independent was the right route for the firm, even as smaller firms around them were being approached by private equity.
"We recognised our succession planning wasn't as robust as it should have been. We've worked through that with an early leadership development programme. But more importantly, we've kept as up to date as we can with technology. Two years ago we didn't even have Teams or Office 365. Credit to the partners, and in particular managing partner Bob Bain, they invested a lot of money, and that impacts their profits and their equity. I think that's helped us secure our future independence."
The firm is also a member of Prime Global, a network of independent accountancy firms that meet quarterly to share issues and ideas. "It's a USP being independent," the team said. "We own our own destiny. We go straight to the leadership team every Tuesday and ask: is this going to work for us, is it going to impact our staff positively? There's no lag time. It's just real people having real conversations."
The team is candid about where they see the profession heading. AI, they believe, is already reshaping what clients are willing to pay for. "The value that a client places on straightforward compliance work, whether that's a VAT return, monthly payroll or year-end statutory accounts, is a commodity that will become less and less valuable," they said. "One of the biggest challenges for accountancy firms of all sizes is being a true business advisor and partner to our clients, not just a compliance function."
Internally, staff are encouraged to experiment with AI at an introductory level, but always alongside a trusted human advisor. "It's there to enhance your role. The information it provides is vast, but at the end of the day it still needs the human touch and the human verification. What we do is heavy on compliance and regulation. It has to be right, and it has to be right for the client."
They're equally focused on the growing weight of regulatory compliance itself, from AML checks at onboarding to applying ISA auditing standards proportionately to owner-managed clients rather than listed PLCs and are watching closely how initiatives like Practice Note 28 continue to evolve.
At TaxCalc, we're proud to sponsor the Mid-Tier Firm of the Year category, and it's a pleasure to see a firm like Hall Morrice recognised for the scale and pace of change it has driven while staying true to its independence and its people.
Asked what the nomination means, the team didn't hesitate: "To be nominated is fantastic, but to be shortlisted is phenomenal. It demonstrates the amount of hard work and dedication that's gone in by so many people across the business."
We'll be cheering them on at the Accounting Excellence Awards, congratulations to Hayley, Ian and the whole team at Hall Morrice on three very well-deserved nominations.