The Vancouver-based firm Wolrige Mahon has undergone an exciting international rebrand as Baker Tilly WM LLP.
The rebranding was part of a merger between two Vancouver-based firms – Wolrige Mahon (which has been in Vancouver for almost 60 years) and Collins Barrow Vancouver – and CW Group, a Toronto-based firm. Together they are now Baker Tilly WM LLP.
“The rebranding allows our firm to have integrated national and international branding so we can have conversations and relationships with local people while having an international reach,” says Paul Websdale, managing partner of Baker Tilly WM LLP.
Baker Tilly WM LLP has almost 180 staff and offers business services such as audit and accounting, evaluations, mergers and acquisitions support, transfer pricing, and insolvency and restructuring. The firm consists of 20 partners and has clients in a wide spectrum of industries such as manufacturing, technology, real estate, hospitality and entertainment.
Industry changes
In August 2018, Vancouver-based firm Wolrige Mahon merged with another Vancouver firm, Collins Barrow, creating Wolrige Mahon Collins Barrow.
Shortly after, this new conglomerate expanded its offices to Toronto after it merged with the CW Group.
Websdale says the industry has undergone a lot of changes in the last few years, which has led to this exciting rebranding with an international network.
“We can play the local card, the national card and the international card, depending on the needs of our clients,” adds Websdale.
International reach
This new consolidated firm will be part of the Baker Tilly Canada Cooperative, now the country’s largest association of independent chartered accounting firms. The firm will specialize in servicing small to mid-market companies and will offer the same audit, tax and advisory services the previous firms did.
Baker Tilly will also be the Canadian representative and an independent member of Baker Tilly International (BTI).
Being a member of BTI will have its perks too; for instance, BTI has more than 33,600 professionals working in almost 150 different countries. But Baker Tilly Canada will remain independent and continue to service its national clients
as well.
“What it does for us is to integrate our brand nationally and internationally,” explains Websdale. He also stresses that, although the firm will have an international reach through BTI, the offices in Canada will remain an all-Canadian network of independently owned and operated chartered professional accounting firms.
The rebranding is an exciting time for Baker Tilly, and for Websdale. “I’ve been in this industry for 25 years and honestly I’ve never been more excited about our firm’s future and about my future.”
Source: As featured on Business in Vancouver newspaper issued on February 12, 2019. Re-posted here with permission from Business in Vancouver.