AAB has announced this week their largest acquisition to date, buying French Duncan for an undisclosed sum.

This deal brings the headcount of the AAB central Scotland team to more than 350, building on existing teams in audit, tax, business advisory, corporate finance, payroll and HR.

It also doubles the size of the AAB restructuring and recovery team across the UK and Ireland and introduces more than 50 leisure and hospitality finance specialists to the group.

French Duncan has provided professional services in central Scotland for more than a hundred years and employs more than 200 people across offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling.

Since securing investment from August Equity in October 2021, AAB has been on an acquisition spree, with this transaction being the eighth business to join the group in the past 18 months.

Graeme Allan, chief executive at AAB Group, commented: “This is our largest strategic acquisition to date and significantly strengthens our market position in Scotland.

We are truly delighted to welcome the French Duncan team to AAB – we share a passion for supporting clients to achieve their goals by offering an unparalleled range of services to the businesses and individuals who choose to work with us, and I know our teams will be able to provide an even better service to our clients as a result of this deal.”

Graeme Finnie, managing partner of French Duncan, added: “This deal is a superb next step for the French Duncan team.

We have admired the journey AAB has been on and by joining the group ourselves we will create unmatched opportunities for our teams and our clients through enhanced technology, investment and expertise.”

Finnie will take on the role of managing partner for Glasgow at AAB following the deal.

From today, French Duncan will begin trading as AAB, with FD Hotel Accounting trading as AAB Hotel Accounting and FD People trading as AAB People. French Duncan Wealth Management and FD Intelligence do not form part of the transaction.