A LEADING Blackburn accountancy practice believes the town's professional community can offer business and industry a better service than big-city firms.

The claim came from Pierce Chartered Accountants following the completion of a £7 million deal to acquire part of the Arcadia group which owns high street chains such as Burtons and Dorothy Perkins.

The firm advised Liverpool fashion entrepreneur Robert Wade-Smith in a deal to buy back clothing retailer Wade Smith which he had sold to Arcadia three years ago.

Partner Simon Baxendale, who led the Pierce team, said the firm was proud to have been involved in such a high-profile deal. It was a great team effort, with some of our advisors working right through the night to meet the extraordinarily tight deadline.

"The professional services community in Blackburn is very buoyant at the moment and the deal shows the area's professionals can match, if not better the services of our city rivals."

Robert Wade-Smith was complimentary of the team's hard work. "The financial guidance we received from the Pierce team was tremendous," he said. "It was a very complex acquisition, much more than the original sale, and we would simply not have accomplished the deal without the expert advice of Pierce."