Charity accountancy firm Gotham Erskine has merged into Macintyre Hudson LLP, one of the UK’s 20 biggest accountancy and consulting companies, and the enlarged firm has lured Chris Harris away from Cipfa to help build its position in the voluntary sector.

MacIntyre Hudson said the merger was driven by growing client interest in civil society, social enterprise and public sector arenas over the last two years, prompting it to seek out a “not-for-profit heavyweight” to join forces with to develop its business in this market.

Gotham Erskine has clients including Liberty, Greenpeace UK, and the Social Enterprise Coalition.

Peter Gotham (pictured), former partner at Gotham Erskine, said: “The not-for-profit sector is a rapidly-changing landscape so having in-house tax, restructuring, strategy and corporate finance specialists, for example, means we can better equip our clients for the next phase of their growth plans.”

Harris, previously resources director at Cipfa (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) also joins MacIntyre Hudson with “a focus on capacity building for the not-for-profit and public sectors”.

Gotham Erskine began trading as MacIntyre Hudson from 1 July and will soon relocate into MacIntyre Hudson’s London City offices at Blackfriars.