AAB announces acquisition of Sussex customs duty firm Charlton House

AAB, a tech-enabled business critical services group, has re-branded the consultancy which will be a key part of its growing indirect tax team.

Charlton House, based in Horsham, West Sussex, has been acquired by AAB. It provides customs duty advice and compliance services to a wide range of businesses on all aspects of the customs’ supply chain and has a particular emphasis on customs compliance services. The company has a broad mix of customs professionals whose backgrounds range from HMRC to industry and accounting. 

Charlton House’s founders, Jon Hicks and Seanna Whitmore, will remain with the firm to support ambitious plans to grow the Charlton House business as part of the AAB Group. The business will be re-branded as AAB with immediate effect, forming a key part of AAB’s expanding indirect tax team focused on providing clients with VAT and customs duty services.

With international trade becoming more complex, particularly for UK businesses following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on 01 January 2021, Charlton House is considered a good strategic fit with the expansion of the AAB Group. 

Following investment from August Equity in October 2021, AAB Group has grown rapidly and now employs more than 550 people across 10 office locations. The acquisition of Charlton House, for an undisclosed amount, will expand the specialist services provided by AAB while strengthening the support available to businesses trading internationally. 

The AAB Group recently merged with FPM, a leading all-Ireland independent accountancy and business advisory firm, which created a significant new hub for the group across the island of Ireland. The acquisition of Charlton House gives it the opportunity to provide customs duty services across the AAB Group offices in the UK and Ireland as well as internationally.

Alistair Duncan, Head of AAB’s Indirect Tax Practice, commented: “The last two years have demonstrated the growing need for customs duty advice. The addition of the Charlton House team will strengthen our existing team, bringing fresh skills and expert knowledge which will enhance our capabilities in the indirect tax space.”

Neil Dinnes, Partner and Head of Corporate & International Tax at AAB, said: “We have achieved significant growth in our VAT compliance and advisory business in recent years and this acquisition strengthens our overall Indirect Tax proposition by adding the ability to provide more specialist Customs Duty compliance and advisory services to our clients. 

“We are delighted to welcome Charlton House to the AAB Group, and we look forward to working together to strengthen our existing service offering to existing and new clients across the UK, Ireland and internationally.”

Jon Hicks, Director Customs Advisory at Charlton House, commented: “We have for some time had ambitious plans to grow the business into the rapidly expanding customs compliance market. From the outset, AAB demonstrated that they share our vision and, following the acquisition, we are now well placed to recruit in line with the demand for our specialist skills and services. AAB also gives us the geographical reach to expand across the European Union and further afield. We are all very excited to be joining such an energetic and forward-thinking organisation.”

Maintaining good customs compliance records allows businesses to avoid punitive penalties and minimise goods held up at the frontier. For more information on customs compliance and customs advice visit https://aab.uk/business/tax/customs-duty/