Since the opening of Bishop Fleming's Cheltenham office on North Place in September 2023, the leading south west accountancy firm has gone from strength to strength in Gloucestershire, with a major recruitment drive, multiple awards and a hive of community activity.
SoGlos chats to office lead partner, David Butler, about how Bishop Fleming first bought a Cheltenham tax practice in 2022, what led to the firm opening its new base in one of Cheltenham's most iconic Regency buildings, how welcoming the Gloucestershire business community has been — and much more...
Tell us a bit about your background, David.
I qualified as an accountant 25 years ago at Grant Thornton and then worked for two of the Big 4 firms, with a few years in London. I joined Bishop Fleming in 2012 and became a partner soon after.
I have always worked with owner-managed businesses and I also specialise in charities and not-for-profits, leading this sector at Bishop Fleming.
In 2022, we acquired a practice in Cheltenham and I took on the role of office lead partner. I’m responsible for leading the team, building client relationships and driving the strategic growth of the Cheltenham office.
We moved into our new office in September 2023, following the renovation and fit-out of the Old Chapel on North Place. Since then, we’ve focused on expanding our presence in the Gloucestershire market, growing our client base and providing exciting opportunities for our team.
What's happened since the Cheltenham office opened?
It has been fantastic to finally move into our own dedicated space. As is often the case, the building work took longer than expected, meaning we spent more time in a serviced office than planned. However, this gave us valuable time to carefully plan the office design and how it would work best for us – and we now have a great space that combines the character of a converted chapel with the functionality of a very modern office.
Because the chapel is a listed building, we faced some unique challenges, including being without gas for over a year! However, we were able to work around these, and everything is now fully operational!
Since moving in, we’ve seen a real boost in collaboration and team morale. The new space has already helped us raise our profile locally and host more client meetings. The office was designed with growth in mind, giving us the capacity and environment to support our initial plan to double in size in three years.
What are your standout achievements so far?
Since opening the office, we’re proud of the rapid transformation and achievements we’ve delivered. Following the acquisition, we successfully integrated a new team, office, systems and processes, strengthening both our local presence and our regional network. We’ve introduced a more structured and rigorous training programme, giving colleagues access to clearer development pathways and the broader opportunities that come from being part of Bishop Fleming, recognised as a Great Place to Work and a multiple award-winning firm.
A key milestone has been establishing an audit presence in Cheltenham. The firm we acquired focused solely on tax and accounts without any audit clients. Audit is a big part of what we do at Bishop Fleming, so this was a service that we wanted to build in Cheltenham.
I have been proud of how we have grown an audit team from one person (me) to a talented group of professionals in such a short space of time. We have attracted high-calibre individuals who bring energy, expertise and ambition, enabling us to deliver for our clients and win new work. This aligns with our wider firm success, where our audit service line has achieved 20 per cent year-on-year growth and we’ve become the largest auditor of owner-managed businesses in the south west.
We’ve also embedded the same innovation and investment that underpin our growth across the firm, including leveraging leading platforms like Workday to streamline operations and enhance client service. Our Cheltenham office now stands as a gateway to expanding our reach across Gloucestershire and the Midlands, with our recent opening in Birmingham strengthening our position in key regional markets.
Looking ahead, our focus is on growing the team further to create the capacity for continued growth, enhancing our service lines offering and embedding our Better Growth strategy to ensure sustainable success for both our clients and our people.
How many people have you recruited to the Cheltenham office since opening and what are your future recruitment plans?
When we moved to Cheltenham, we had about 25 people in the team. Once our new graduates join us in September, we will be over 40 and expect to be over 50 in September 2026. So, we will have more than doubled in size in three years.
People have joined us at all levels, from trainees up to partner. We have another six or seven trainees joining us this year across audit, tax and accountancy. This will give all our existing trainees the chance to progress. We have also recruited three partners to join me, with Zoe Martin, Graham Charlton and Iona Martin all joining from large national firms and bringing a huge amount of specialist knowledge and experience.
We have developed the office into a full-service offering and recruited an audit team that will comprise approximately half of the office by the end of the year.
How have you found the Gloucestershire market so far?
Bishop Fleming has worked with clients in Gloucestershire for many years, so we knew how dynamic and diverse the corporate sector was. Gloucestershire is well known for its defence and technology sectors, but there is so much more going on.
Being more closely connected to this vibrant market has opened our eyes to just how fast-moving it is. The level of activity in the corporate sector has been high and this has also created opportunities for our corporate finance team.
What has been a pleasant surprise is how welcoming the professional community has been. We have built productive relationships with a wide range of bankers, lawyers and financial advisers and the feedback that we have received is that they are pleased that a firm like Bishop Fleming is coming into the market, as we can give businesses a credible alternative.
We have also met with a few other professional advisors who have recently moved into Gloucestershire, which validates our view that this is a great market to be in.
Are you working on any exciting plans at the moment?
Our experience over the last two years has confirmed that opening an office in Gloucestershire was the right decision. Looking ahead, our focus is to continue growing our Cheltenham office — increasing our headcount and profile in the local market. We’re committed to building deeper relationships with the region’s businesses, helping them navigate challenges and seize opportunities through our full range of audit, accountancy, tax and advisory services, all now delivered locally from Cheltenham.
But we want to do more. We want to continue growing all our service lines in the region. By doing so, we will not only support more clients but also play a larger role in the local professional community, creating more opportunities for collaboration and regional economic growth.
We’re excited about the momentum we’re building. We’re currently recruiting to grow all our service lines to meet increasing demand and we’re embedding the same innovative technologies and practices that have fuelled our success across the wider firm. We’re also focused on developing our people, giving them the training and progression opportunities that have helped Bishop Fleming be recognised as a Great Place to Work.
Ultimately, our vision is for Cheltenham to become one of Bishop Fleming’s key regional hubs, supporting growth across Gloucestershire and beyond, while contributing to our Better Growth strategy of doubling the size of our business over five years.
If you're interested in joining the dynamic, growing team at Bishop Fleming Cheltenham, visit its dedicated careers page for more information and current opportunities.
