Many successful regional businesses are facing the same challenge right now: how do you preserve the culture and identity that made you successful while still evolving fast enough to compete in a changing market?

For BHP, one of the region’s most established professional services firms, that question had been building for years. Under Joint Managing Director Hamish Morrison, the business had developed a reputation not only for strong commercial performance, but for creating a modern culture and investing heavily in its people.

But as technology, AI and operational complexity began reshaping the industry, the leadership team recognised that maintaining the status quo was no longer enough. The decision to join Sumer became less about exit and more about long-term ambition - creating the scale, investment and infrastructure needed for the next phase of growth while protecting the culture that made BHP successful in the first place.

In this interview, Hamish discusses leadership, timing, culture and why making proactive decisions early can often define which businesses thrive during periods of major change

It’s been an incredible journey for you personally since joining BHP to now - what have been your personal highlights?

“I think it’s largely the people. If I look back to where the firm was, we were a very traditional business that had been successful for over 100 years. One of my biggest highlights has been seeing the transition into a much more modern culture.

I remember when we first went for the Sunday Times Best Companies award, initially, we only entered to get feedback on where we needed to improve. To now be recognised as a genuinely great place to work is really rewarding.

I often think about it in simple terms, if my daughter told me she worked somewhere like BHP, I’d say she was lucky to have a job there because she’d get great training, work with really good people and genuinely enjoy it. Whether someone stays three years or twenty-three years, they’ll leave better for the experience.

Seeing people progress through the business has probably been the most satisfying part, trainees becoming partners and people across different departments developing their careers so successfully.”

Looking back, what have been the defining moments in BHP’s journey that led to the decision to join Sumer?

“For years, one of the standing questions in partner meetings was always: ‘Do we want to remain independent?’ And the answer was always firmly yes.

But as more investment started coming into the sector, we realised we needed to understand what was changing rather than simply sticking to tradition. We wanted to make decisions based on knowledge, not just instinct.

Initially, when we looked at some of the early deals happening in the market, many of them felt more about providing payouts to older partners than genuinely improving businesses. There wasn’t much visible investment or transformation afterwards.

Over time, though, we started speaking to more firms that had gone through transactions and we began analysing what they were doing differently. At first, the thinking was simply: if they’ve got good ideas, let’s copy those ideas ourselves without taking investment.

But eventually we could see there was real structural change happening in the profession. Technology investment, AI, automation - all of it was going to fundamentally reshape accountancy firms.

We reached the point where we realised that staying independent would eventually limit our ability to invest at the scale needed for the future.”

Were there any pivotal challenges over the past few years that shaped the move toward a group like Sumer?

“One of the biggest challenges was recognising just how much investment would be needed going forward.

I often compare it to printing businesses years ago - some invested in £5 million printing machines while others tried to carry on as they always had, simply asking staff to work harder and harder. Eventually, those businesses fell behind.

We knew we needed to make that same kind of step change investment in technology and infrastructure.

At the same time, running a modern accountancy business has become significantly more complex. Partners were spending huge amounts of time on compliance, regulation and operational management - often things they neither enjoyed nor did it play to their key strengths as individuals..

The attraction of Sumer was that it would allow us to hand a lot of that infrastructure and operational burden over to specialists, so our people could focus on the things they’re genuinely best at, spending time with clients, developing teams and growing relationships.

Internally, we referred to the transaction process as ‘Project K’. After the deal completed, we revealed to our teams that the ‘K’ actually stood for ‘kebab’. The joke was that the process felt a bit like being on a night out as a student - you want to make the right long-term choice while you still have options, rather than ending up at 5am with only a kebab left because you waited too long.

That was really the mindset behind it. We wanted to make a proactive decision from a position of strength, while we still controlled our own destiny, rather than risk being left behind as the market evolved.”

You have previously mentioned the importance of “cultural DNA” - what specifically did you see in Sumer that reassured you?

“Culture was absolutely critical for us. We weren’t looking for a transaction that fundamentally changed who we are.

What reassured us about Sumer was that they genuinely understood the importance of people, local relationships and culture. It didn’t feel like a purely financial exercise.

The conversations were very focused on supporting firms to grow rather than imposing a completely different way of operating. There was a strong alignment around investing in people, technology and long-term development while still allowing firms to retain their identity and culture.

That alignment made a huge difference.”

The £100m ambition is a big milestone - what are the key levers to get there?

“The key levers are people, technology and the ability to scale more effectively.

There’s a huge opportunity to improve how we operate through better systems, AI and automation, while also freeing our people up to focus on higher-value advisory work and client relationships.

At the same time, being able to attract and retain talented people becomes easier when you can offer broader opportunities, better infrastructure and stronger long-term investment.”

How does being part of Sumer accelerate that plan versus going it alone?

“Quite simply, it accelerates investment and removes operational friction.

As an independent firm, we could still have progressed, but the level of investment required in technology, AI and infrastructure would have been difficult to achieve at the same pace.

Being part of Sumer means we can access those resources much earlier and at greater scale, while also reducing the amount of time partners spend dealing with operational complexity.

It allows us to focus far more on clients, people and growth.”

Do you expect further acquisitions as part of this strategy?

“Definitely, further acquisitions will absolutely be part of the strategy going forward.

The profession is consolidating quickly, and there are a lot of firms now facing the same questions we were asking ourselves a few years ago - around succession, technology investment, AI, regulation and the increasing complexity of running a modern practice.

What’s interesting is that, even this early on, we’re already having conversations with firms that are looking at what we’ve done and wanting to understand the journey. There’s definitely growing interest from firms who can see the benefits of being part of a larger group while still retaining a local identity and culture.

I think many firms are recognising that remaining completely independent will become increasingly difficult if they want to keep pace with the level of investment needed in technology and infrastructure.

For us, though, any future acquisitions would still need to be the right cultural fit. One of the things that attracted us to Sumer was the importance placed on people and cultural alignment, and I think that will remain central to our future growth strategy.”

What specific technology advantages does Sumer bring that BHP didn’t have before - and how important will AI and automation be in shaping the future of the business?

“The biggest difference is really the scale and speed of investment.

As an independent firm, there’s naturally a limit to how much you can invest in technology, infrastructure and innovation at any one time. What Sumer brings is the ability to accelerate that investment much faster than we realistically could have done alone.

A huge part of that is AI and automation, it will impact every part of the profession. I don’t see AI as something that replaces people or removes jobs - I see it as another tool that becomes part of everyday working life, much like laptops or email did over time. The real opportunity is that it takes away more of the repetitive, process-driven work and frees people up to focus on the areas where they add the most value.

In areas like audit, tax and compliance, automation will significantly streamline processes and improve efficiency. But the real benefit is that it creates more time for higher-value advisory work, assessing key technical challenges problem-solving and building stronger client relationships.

Ultimately, technology should allow our people to spend less time on administration and more time doing the interesting work they’re genuinely good at. That’s where I think the profession is heading over the next five years, and being part of Sumer gives us the ability to stay ahead of that curve rather than trying to catch up later.”

How do you expect the UK accountancy landscape to evolve over the next 5 years?

“I think the profession will continue consolidating and modernising rapidly.

Technology and AI will reshape how firms deliver services, and clients will increasingly expect more advisory-led relationships rather than purely compliance support.

Firms that can invest effectively in technology, people and client experience will thrive. Those that can’t may find it increasingly difficult to compete.”

How do you keep BHP’s culture intact within a larger group structure?

“A huge part of this was making sure we retained the things that make BHP special.

We’ve already evolved the way the business operates over the last few years by introducing a more modern board structure and clearer governance, so culturally we were already moving toward a more scalable business model.

The important thing is that our people, relationships and values remain at the centre of what we do. Sumer understood that from the outset and shared our vision.”

What excites you most personally about this next chapter?

“What excites me most is the opportunity.

We’re entering a period where the profession is changing significantly, and instead of reacting to that change, we now have the chance to help shape it.

The ability to invest more heavily, give our people broader opportunities and continue building something ambitious is genuinely exciting.”

In five years, what would make you say this was absolutely the right decision?

“If, in five years’ time, we’ve created an even better place for people to build careers, delivered stronger outcomes for clients and successfully modernised the business while keeping our culture intact, then it’ll absolutely have been the right decision.

Ultimately, success would be looking back and seeing that we stayed ahead of the changes happening in the profession rather than being overtaken by them.”

‍

Our Final Thoughts

Ultimately, BHP’s move reflects a wider shift happening across regional businesses, the companies that thrive over the next decade are likely to be the ones willing to evolve early, invest ahead of the curve and make long-term decisions without losing sight of the culture and people that made them successful in the first place.

‍

‍

Elise Walsh - Partner