As part of the merger the current 15-strong team at Houghton Stone, which was set up in 1989 by managing partner Dickie Houghton, will move into the Milsted Langdon offices in Bristol and all staff will be retained by the merged firm, creating a business employing more than 200 people.

Dickie Houghton, founder partner of Houghton Stone, will remain with the merged business as a director as will fomer tax partner Carl Powell.

Milsted Langdon reported fee income of £1.85m in its latest Companies House filing on 30 April 2017 and has a strong base of private client and commercial practices in the south west as well as a growing national forensic and insolvency service line. The firm has 21 partners, more than 200 staff and offices in Bath, Bristol, London, Taunton and Yeovil.

Jonathan Langdon, founder and chairman of Milsted Langdon, said: ‘This is an exciting opportunity which will bring significant benefits to our clients. Milsted Langdon and Houghton Stone have complementary strengths with many synergies in our vision and culture, making them a very good strategic fit.

‘This will provide exciting growth opportunities for our commercial and private client practices. For our clients, it means greater choice and access to an even wider range of business services and accountancy expertise.’

Dickie Houghton, managing partner at Houghton Stone, said: ‘We are very much looking forward to joining Milsted Langdon. The expanded firm presents us with excellent opportunities to grow and develop across all areas of our practice.’

Milsted Langdon Companies House filing for year end 30 April 2017 is available here

Report by Sara White