Bishop Fleming appoints new chair

Published by

Peter Davison

Bristol and Worcester-based accountancy and advisory firm Bishop Fleming has announced the appointment of Pippa Clarke as its new chair.

Pippa is a tax partner and heads up the firm's technology, innovation and growth sector, having joined Bishop Fleming in 2019.

She will become Bishop Fleming’s chair on 1 June, when current chair Ian Smith retires.

Pippa said: "I am delighted to be taking on this key strategic role as we embark on an ambitious plan to further grow our business.

"I am particularly passionate about the development of our people, and among several other priorities will be working with the team to attract more talented people to our business. Excellent people, who reach their potential, will be pivotal to this growth.

"As a responsible business we are absolutely committed to improving inclusion and diversity and as someone who has a less traditional background, I am particularly proud of the important message my appointment delivers in promoting diversity in business, both internally to our own people and in our sector.”

Ian added: “It is bittersweet that I am retiring from the partnership at this juncture. On the one hand I am immensely proud of what we have achieved during my tenure, but at the same time I am somewhat jealous of the opportunities that lie ahead for our business.

"I look forward to watching Bishop Fleming succeed further under Pippa and Andrew’s leadership and wish them, and all our people well.”

The firm, which has offices across the West Midlands and the South West is currently enjoying considerable growth and is on the verge of posting record growth for this financial year.

This is coupled with record levels of apprentices and experienced hires coming into the business, resulting in its highest ever headcount.

In welcoming Pippa into the role, managing partner Andrew Sandiford said: “Pippa’s appointment coincides with our intention to double the size of our business over the next few years.

I would like to personally thank Ian for everything he has delivered over the last five years. He has made an indelible mark on our business and is handing over the chairing reins to Pippa when our business is in fantastic shape.

"We are currently experiencing considerable growth in all areas of our business, and I look forward to working with Pippa to build on this success.”

Pictured: Pippa Clarke, Andrew Sandiford, and outgoing chair Ian Smith

Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country. An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts. Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.