Johnston Carmichael is to expand with new Stirling office

Staff numbers for the new office are still being finalised, but chief executive Sandy Manson has confirmed that there will be a full-time presence in the base, which will be located at the Stirling Agriculture Centre.

He said: "While we have an office in Perth, we see Stirling and the surrounding area as a great area to expand into.

"There is lots of potential particularly for some of our industry sector specialists in areas like agriculture.

"We have a number of clients in the area but we feel the time is now right to add resource.

"We haven't finalised exact numbers but we will have some senior members of our existing team relocating and there is plenty of room to expand."

The firm's financial services arm has also merged with the smaller independent financial advisor GW Winton and Co in Perth.

Mr Manson said he expects there to be more mergers in the accountancy sector and was not ruling out further deals in the coming year.

He added: "We are building the firm on a solid foundation but we are seeing opportunities in the market.

"The current climate, coupled with increasing regulation and specialisation, means that a number of firms will merge into larger firms in order to provide clients with the services they need.

"In accountancy in Scotland you will continue to see a degree of rationalisation and merger.

"We regularly have discussions with other firms and it is fundamental to get the right blend and match of ethos.

"We see expansion as being controlled but ambitious and we think there is still significant growth potential in Scotland."

The Stirling office is Johnston Carmichael's 11th across Scotland.