Professional services firm S&W has launched a new economic advisory wing to support government, corporate and legal clients. The practice will be headed up by Jonathan Gillham and Schellion Horn.
Founded originally as Smith & Williamson, S&W is a fast-growing UK accounting and advisory firm. After investment from funds advised by Apax Partners took the firm back to independence in 2024, it rebranded as S&W, building on the firm’s original heritage.
The firm launched with around 1,800 employees across the UK and Ireland – but it has since expanded to more than 2,300 staff, including 150 partners, across 19 towns and cities in the UK, Ireland and France. This has partially been driven by a rapid acquisition campaign, including growing the firm’s business advisory capacity with a deal for ClearViewIP, and its private client tax services with a move for Beechwood Partners.
Now, S&W has looked to further put these growing capabilities to use, with the launch of a new economic advisory practice. Supporting government and economic regulators, corporates and their legal advisors, the practice will provide economic advisory and independent expert services for complex policy, regulatory, competition and contentious matters. It will work closely with S&W’s consulting, forensics and restructuring teams, reflecting growing client demand for rigorous economic insight delivered within a multidisciplinary advisory offering.
John Rugman, head of advisory at S&W, commented, “The launch of our economic advisory practice is a significant milestone for S&W. By embedding economics within our broader advisory offering, we are uniquely positioned to support clients on their most complex regulatory, contentious and strategic challenges.”
The practice is headed up by Schellion Horn and Jonathan Gillham, who both join the firm as partners. Horn arrives with more than 25 years of experience in competition, regulation, policy and disputes. She has acted as an advisor and independent expert before courts and tribunals and has previously established and led an economic advisory practice at a large professional services firm.
She noted, “I am excited to be joining S&W to launch and build this new offering. What attracted me to the firm is its ambitious growth agenda and strong platform for collaboration. Economics increasingly sits at the heart of complex commercial, regulatory and public policy decisions, and S&W has exactly the right mix of expertise to address these challenges for clients across the public and private sectors.”
Gillham meanwhile has significant experience applying macroeconomic modelling and economic analysis to policy evaluation, market impacts and disputes. He began his career in the UK Government and worked in HM Treasury contributing to economic forecasting and tax policy, before moving into advisory roles supporting clients across industries on market and dispute-related matters. He was chief economist at PwC and a member of the OBR academic advisory panel.
Concluding, Gillham added, “S&W presents a genuinely compelling opportunity to apply economic analysis in a practical, transparent and commercially focused environment. I am looking forward to working with colleagues across audit, forensics and consulting to help clients better understand economic risk, quantify loss and make more informed strategic decisions.”
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