Ashmole & Co celebrate 125th Anniversary with fresh modern look for firm

Ashmole & Co are celebrating their 125th anniversary this year with a fresh new look for the firm of accountants which will better represent the forward-thinking business.

The firm, which has offices across mid and south Wales, has unveiled its new branding this week marking the start of a new chapter in Ashmole & Co’s prestigious history. The brand is still represented by the image of an Ash tree but it has been redesigned to better reflect the company’s modern innovations. To celebrate the anniversary and reflect a greater online presence, the website has also been transformed: www.ashmole.co.uk

As one of Ashmole & Co’s longest serving Partners, Mark Gould, who has worked for the firm for over 28 years, said, “We are celebrating our 125th anniversary by modernising our outlook. We have continued to grow and adapt over the years, so we meet our clients’ requirements. We are always looking for new opportunities and assessing how we can be one-step ahead of the trends and financial regulations that are emerging. We are a great team with a vibrant mix of vast experience together with young trainees and newly qualified staff.”

Ashmole & Co has considerably grown over the years to become one of Wales’ largest accountancy firms. Originally there was just one large main office in Swansea which concentrated on providing an accountancy service to the coal mining industry. In the 1970s there were four main offices in Haverfordwest, Swansea, Ammanford and Carmarthen and five Partners. The company then grew as a result of the farming businesses requiring the services of an accountant to calculate their income tax. Now the firm has 13 offices across south and mid Wales with a team of 14 partners and over 100 staff with a wide range of clients including construction, agriculture, sole traders, shops and small businesses.

The company grew extensively in the 70s and 80s through the acquisition of retiring accountancy businesses. The latest acquisition was in 2020 when Ashmole & Co expanded into Neath. More recently the firm prefers to build the business naturally with customer recommendations.

Accountancy has changed considerably over the years that Ashmole & Co has been in business. Retired Partners recall how they calculated clients’ tax returns using only pen and paper and wrote them out by hand. Then there was the introduction of counting machines, calculators and computers in the 90s. In the beginning computer technology was very slow, with staff watching a circle going around on the screen waiting for the ‘world wide web’ to work! Now accounts are calculated using a number of electronic methods including electronic spreadsheets, Xero, IRIS, SAGE, KASHFLOW, AUTOENTRY as well as calculators and they are usually submitted online.

According to the history books Ashmole & Co was created as a partnership in 1897. Over the years the name has had slightly different variations depending on whereabouts in south Wales you were a client. In the Ammanford area, for many years it was Ashmole, Butterfield & Morgan and in Haverfordwest, before Ashmole & Co was adopted, it was Ashmole, Prichard, Rhead & Co. These names were to reflect the local accountancy firms that had recently been acquired by the firm.

Ashmole & Co, Chartered, Certified Accountants, is one of the largest accountancy and auditing practices in Wales, operating from 13 offices throughout south and west Wales including Abergavenny, Tenby, St Clears and Llandovery. For contact details of all the offices please visit: www.ashmole.co.uk