20th July, 2023, Melanie Harriss
Stephenson Smart has taken over Hines Harvey Woods in The Street, Acle, making it the second office in east Norfolk for the firm, after it opened the first at Gorleston in 2015.
Hines Harvey Woods was founded in 2000, with the last original partner Sara Harvey due to retire next March.
She will stay on until then as a consultant, alongside Andrew Fryer, who will also act as a consultant and remain in the role for at least two years.
Stephen Pease, a director at Hines Harvey Woods for 14 years, has become an associate director to work alongside Stephenson Smart partner Henry Pettitt, who is also partner of the Gorleston office.
Sara said: “It was important to me as I head towards retirement and I’m thinking about the succession of the business that we looked for a company that was a good fit for our ethos, our clients and our staff.
“Stephenson Smart stood out straight away because of the way it provides its client services. I could see we had a strong common ground and they, like us, have some clients that have spanned generations. I have no doubt that with Henry and Stephen at the helm we will continue to flourish for many years to come.”
Henry said merging the two companies ensured the long-term future of the Acle business and its 15 staff.
“We have two offices in Cambridgeshire, two in west Norfolk and one in north Norfolk, so a natural progression for us was to find another location in East Norfolk as we expand our portfolio.
“Hines Harvey Woods is well established and respected and there was a lot of synergy between us, such as the way we support our business and personal clients, provide advice, and our hands-on approach.
“We were also really fortunate that the acquisition comes with some extremely talented and hardworking staff to continue building our offer across Norfolk.”
Stephen said having two locations in the Great Yarmouth area would give clients more choice.
“I think geographically it probably makes things easier for all the existing clients, who may find it more convenient to travel to Acle rather than Gorleston and vice versa. We have some fantastic clients and there’s now scope to take on many more.”
Stephenson Smart has been crunching the numbers since 1920, seeing every development stage come and go from paper ledgers to adding machines and the first computer.
Now employing more than 100 people, the earliest mention of the company was through Robert Stanley Smart, who was listed as a fellow of accounting at the King’s Lynn office in King Street.
Efforts by staff to trace the history revealed Joseph Stephenson as the other founding partner, bringing together the two names to form one business.
The founding office still remains, but its success also led to other branches opening before Acle - Fakenham in 1989, Wisbech and Downham Market in 2010 and March in 2014.
In 2015 the partners took a leap over to the coast in Gorleston to develop the sixth office.
