Garrisons links with accountants in northern NSW

TheGarrisonsdealer group has linked up with Southern Cross Accountants, an accounting business based in northern New South Wales, to set up a network of offices in Lismore, Casino, Ballina and Byron Bay.

Under the deal struck between the two groups, the network, to be known as Garrisons Northern New South Wales, will operate out of the existing offices of Southern Cross Accountants in each of the four locations.

Greg Driscoll, formerly with theCommonwealth Bank, has been recruited by Garrisons to head up the new operation.

The managing director of Garrisons, Kim White, says the move is part of the dealer group’s plans to grow its business Australia wide.

“Northern New South Wales is one of the key areas we have been targeting as part of our long term growth strategy,” she says.

In April, Garrisons purchased a 49 per cent stake in the West Australian dealer group, Epic Asset Management.

The senior partner at Southern Cross Accountants, Mark Baker, says the deal with Garrisons would bring much needed financial planning expertise to the group’s string of accounting firms.

“We had been trying to manage the financial planning side of our business in conjunction with accounting advice, but it was becoming clear that a separate, specialist team of financial planning advisers was required to provide a high level of client service,” he says.