EQ Chartered Accountants, the Dundee-headquartered Scottish hub of the Sumer Group, has merged with Inverness and Livingston-based Innes & Partners, extending its footprint into the north of Scotland and adding a 20-strong team. The deal, announced on 21 August 2026, lifts EQ’s headcount by 7% from 290 to 310. That compares with 140 staff when EQ joined Sumer Group in January 2024.
Innes & Partners, established in 2013, is a chartered certified accountancy practice serving private individuals, business owners and non-profit entities including charities, social enterprises and charitable trusts across its Inverness and Livingston offices. Both offices will continue to operate, and director Jonathan Innes will stay on as a partner in the Inverness team.
Innes & Partners’ clients will gain access to Sumer Group’s wider UK network of more than 70 offices and over 3,000 personnel, including audit, tax, advisory and business support services, while continuing to work with their existing local team.
Craig Nicol, chief executive of EQ, said: “Innes & Partners excellent reputation and strong client relationships in Inverness and Livingston perfectly complement our mission to champion SMEs throughout the UK. This merger represents another significant step in our ambitious growth strategy and we welcome them on board enthusiastically.”
Jonathan Innes, director at Innes & Partners, said: “Joining EQ, and the Sumer Group, marks an exciting new chapter for our firm. Our clients will benefit from enhanced service capabilities while maintaining the personal relationships and local knowledge they value. We’re proud to join an organisation that shares our commitment to supporting SME businesses and the communities they serve, alongside continuing to support all the not for profit work that we currently do and more.”
The Innes deal is the third EQ merger since it joined Sumer Group as the group’s Scottish hub, following earlier tie-ups with Douglas Home & Co and McDonald Gordon & Co, which extended the firm across Tayside, Fife and Scotland’s central belt. EQ is now among Scotland’s 20 largest accounting firms.
