Extending geographic reach

Once the merger had been implemented and perceived as a success, Michel Rosse, Patrick de Cambourg and the other members of the Group Executive Board decided on the main orientations for the new organisation.

The main aim was “to resolutely work on extending our geographic reach in our core professions (auditing, tax consulting and accounting), and we successively took on one major operation in Great Britain and another in Holland, in addition to a number of smaller undertakings. This gave us international credibility. By repeatedly showing our ability to remain independent, we were able to reassure the doubts both inside and outside the firm.”

Within this ever-increasing geographic framework, “we progressively recognised the scope for organic growth, and our clients reinforced this strategy”, as the market noticed “our difference, our technical expertise and the system of ethics which we carefully nurture and protect”.

Neville Russell

The firm was founded by Charles Neville Russell in 1900 in the City of London. He had established himself independently to keep the accounts for the Lloyd’s insurance syndicates. This was the modest start to a sectorial specialisation which would play a key role in Neville Russell’s development for almost a century.

After its modest Victorian beginnings, the firm became a partnership in the 1930s, when Charles took on his first partner.

Its national development began in the 1960s with the acquisition of eight provincial offices over the course of that decade. In the mid-1970s, Neville Russell had reached a size comparable with international activity. International development began with Neville Russell International in the mid-1980s, which merged with Nexia in 1990.

After a phase of slow development in the first half of the 20th century, the fifty years which followed saw significant growth for what is now Mazars UK, with 1000 employees and twenty offices.



Paardekooper & Hoffman

Paardekooper opened his company in Rotterdam in 1927 with one partner, and Mr. Hoffman joined him as the firm grew during the 1930s. In 1940, at the start of the war, there were between ten and fifteen employees. In May of that year, Rotterdam was heavily bombed by the Germans, leading to the destruction of the city centre and many casualties. The office was entirely levelled and team members worked from home, only coming together again in a new building after the war ended. The first office outside Rotterdam was opened in The Hague in 1956, and another was opened in Amsterdam the following year. In the 70s, there were twelve offices in Holland employing 300 people.

In the second phase in the history of Paardekooper & Hoffman we witness the expansion of our activity to tax and management consulting. At the same time, following the reform of professional standards in 1978, a new group of chartered accountants joined the firm, bringing its size to 600 employees and twenty-two offices during the 1980s.

Following the pioneering and diversification phases was the era of internationalisation. We became a member of Moores Rowland International.

During the 1990s, there were 800 employees in the firm, about the same number as when we undertook our merger with Mazars in 2000.