Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Firm aims to double staff
THE head of Dundee accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael has revealed her ambition to grow its city workforce to 100 employees.
The business advisory firm opened a satellite office in Dundee five years ago with just three staff.
But, under the leadership of Jenn Stewart, it has seen spectacular growth and now boasts 40 employees.
Boosted by strong local demand, she hopes the business will more than double its workforce again within five years.
Ms Stewart said she is proud at what has been achieved so far.
“We started with three people back in 2019 but the vision was always to become a full service office,” she said.
“Covid-19 hindered our plans in the first couple of years but we’ve had substantial growth since the pandemic. We have expanded our range of services and now support a lot of firms in the games, tech and life sciences sectors.
“We’ve also done a lot of work with the universities in terms of spin-outs, supporting businesses at an early stage of their growth journey.”
The firm, which also has a Forfar office, is in negotiations to expand its office space within the Dundee One building at City Quay.
Ms Stewart said Johnston Carmichael’s ethos is organic growth rather than acquisitions.
She said: “We provide a sectorfocused approach and provide a lot of specialisms our competitors might not. Our model is for organic growth and we’re looking to keep bringing in good people and clients.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved but also excited about what the future holds. We’ve really got a fantastic team who have all played a key role in growing our presence in Dundee.”
The business provides advisory, audit, tax and restructuring services. It has recently added two financial planners to its wealth department, Lauren Whitters and Duncan Fernie, as well as the office’s first audit appointment, Uthman Ahmed.
Ms Stewart praised the calibre of the Dundee team.
She said: “The growth of the office has created a great dynamic, with a huge mixture of people from different backgrounds and positions, where everyone can learn from each other, which is something we’re really proud of.
“We have a hybrid approach, we don’t force people into the office. But I’m delighted to say we’ve got 80% of the team in most of the time.”