About Us:
SWAT UK provides accountancy training and consultancy to firms throughout the UK. In addition to running a wide range of accountancy courses in venues throughout England and Wales, as well as online, we also provide consultancy and compliance support to accountancy firms.
SWAT UK was established in 1976 by six firms of accountants throughout Devon and Cornwall with the aim of providing training to all the partners and staff. Over a short period of time the training group started to attract additional members. However, in order to achieve effective training and implementation the group needed to develop a standard system of documentation. On agreement from all six firms, common audit, accounts and tax indices and forms were written to support them. This system of documentation was the foundation for the range of manuals produced by SWAT UK today.
When the new documentation was introduced in the late 1970s, questions arose about its usage. SWAT UK therefore started reviewing files to ensure that it was being used in the most efficient way. From these early visits SWAT UK developed the full range of quality control file reviews and practice reviews available today.
In 1984, the group began to expand to firms in Somerset, in 1990 through South Wales and then in 1991 they were joined by firms from East Yorkshire. The SWAT UK group continued to grow and now stands at more than 120 member firms all of whom benefit from an excellent level of training, consultancy and technical support and group discount schemes.
As the number of member firms increased, so did the number of staff within SWAT UK. In order to provide the personal service necessary for our clients in each region, SWAT UK now has offices in Cardiff, Hull, London and Plymouth (with Plymouth remaining the administrative centre). Our London office was established by the acquisition of the London training group "Pentagon" in 2005.
During 2007 the directors of SWAT UK completed a management buyout of the external shareholders of the company. The four executive directors (Mike Sturgess, Adrian Gibbons, Richard Brown and Vicki Banthorpe) along with the only other employee shareholder at the time (Andy Holton) bought the company outright. Since then, Jane Mather and David Norris have exercised share options to become shareholders.
In 2008, SWAT UK developed its London client base through the acquisition of the consultancy-based firm "ACT". Then in June 2010, it acquired the business of the London-based training company PASS Training, making us the largest provider of accountancy training in London. This acquisition formed part of SWAT UK's long term strategy to strengthen its training and compliance services to practices throughout London and the South East, which now represents over 50% of the business.
Today, SWAT UK is one of the largest accountancy training and consultancy providers in the UK, with a client base of around 2500 firms across the UK who use us for training courses, consultancy, file reviews, manuals and other technical support. We have established an enviable reputation for providing the profession with a comprehensive range of high quality and practical products and support services.