The firm traces its roots back to 1788 and celebrated its bicentenary in 1988. The origins of the current firm are set out below.
WM F Smart Son & Bloor
Founded in 1861 by William Fleet Smart, the practice took on the above name in 1916 when Herbert Thomas Bloor was admitted to the partnership.
Chantrey Vellacott DFK partner, Alan Langridge joined in 1956 as an articled clerk and became a partner in 1968. At this time their offices were at Finsbury Pavement House in Moorgate.
In 1970 the firm had to leave due to the building falling into disrepair and went to Africa House, Kingsway, where they became subtenants of a seven partner firm, Chantrey Button & Co.
Two years later, Wm F Smart Son & Bloor merged with Chantrey Button & Co. to become a 10 partner firm under the name Chantrey Button.
Chantrey Button & Co
Chantrey Button had offices in London, Watford and Croydon.
Former Chantrey Vellacott DFK partners who came from the merged Chantrey Button are Alan Langridge (London, retired March 2005) and Peter Austin (Croydon, retired June 2004).
Wood & Co
Wood & Co dates back to the late 1800’s and during the first half of the 1900’s the firm had offices in Ling House, Dominican Street, London. After the war, the firm moved to Uxbridge House, Old Burlington Street, which it shared with The Royal Bank of Scotland and the West London branch of the Bank of England. Graham Matthews joined the firm in 1962 (retired June 2000), Allan Russell in 1963 (retired 2000). Both became partners in 1966 and 1968 respectively. Robert Parker and Graham Matthews opened the Reading office in 1975.
During this time, Louis Civval was the Senior Partner with his nephew, Norman, taking over on his retirement.
In 1978 Wood & Co merged with Wright King & Co, with the latter moving into Uxbridge House. The firm became the ten partner firm known as Wood King & Co.
Wright King & Co
Wright King & Co started up in the early 1900’s and in its early days it was known as Harold C Wright, King & Co.
Former Chantrey Vellacott DFK partners Chris Bennett and Robert Cole joined this firm in 1963 with Clifford King being the Senior Partner.
They had offices in Victoria and Surbiton. During the period between 1963 and 1978 Wright King & Co were involved in taking over five other firms. In 1978 they merged with Wood & Co, becoming Wood King & Co.
In 1984 Chantrey Button merged with Wood King & Co to become the twenty partner firm - Chantrey Wood King.
In 1988 Chantrey Wood King then merged with Hill Vellacott to become Chantrey Vellacott. The new forty partner firm moved later that same year to the current offices in Russell Square House.
Hill Vellacott
It is believed that Hill Vellacott was the only accountancy firm that could trace its ancestry back 200 years. Based on this history, Chantrey Vellacott DFK is regarded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales as one of the five oldest firms in the country.
In 1788 Edward Thomas Jones set up in business and his grandson later went into partnership with Arthur J Hill and William Edward Vellacott. Hill was taken into the partnership in 1867 and Vellacott in 1878. It was not until 1967 that the firm became known as Hill Vellacott.
Arthur Hill’s son, Lancelot, became very involved with the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and served as president twice. During the 1930’s Sir Henry Peat who later went on to Peat Marwick and David McClintock of KMG Thomson McClintock, both served their articles with Hill Vellacott.
By 1967 Hill Vellacott had offices in London, Birmingham, Canterbury, Croydon and a presence in Northampton and Leicester. At this time their London offices were at Hanging Sword House, Whitefriars.
Hill Vellacott merged with Chantrey Wood King in 1988 and both firms moved into Russell Square House as the firm of Chantrey Vellacott.
Longcrofts
In March 1993, a two office firm called Longcrofts was merged into Chantrey Vellacott. They had offices in London and Sutton, Surrey. The Sutton office moved in with Croydon.
Nash Broad Wesson
This was a firm with a long history, which had been formed through the merger of Nash Broad and Birkett Wesson. Both firms had previously been through a number of mergers.
In January 1996, the firm merged into Chantrey Vellacott.
Other Mergers
There have been a number of other mergers that have contributed to the firm’s current portfolio of clients and people. These include:
- Geoffrey Lawrence & Co Croydon
- John Harris & Co Northampton
- Witcher & Sharpe Reading
- Lever Brothers London
Latterly we have had two mergers with specialist insolvency practices. A business recovery practice from Morley & Scott joined the firm in 2000 and another, RZQ, joined in 2004.
Chantrey Vellacott DFK
In the years since 1988 we have made substantial developments in our services, in how we deliver these services and how we promote our firm. At the same time our marketplace has been changing ever more rapidly.
A key change in 1998 was to include DFK in our name. We had been a leading member of DFK International for many years and this change to our name highlights our commitment to meeting our clients’ needs in the global market place.
