Horizon Nexus and Blaze Acumen come together in new Melbourne office
Victorian accountancy Blaze Acumen has officially joined the Horizon Nexus steam-train, adding a bunch of new partners alongside a bigger Melbourne office to accommodate the expanding team.
Led by former PwC partners Rob Silverwood and Sanjiv Jeraj and backed by private equity firm BGH Capital, Horizon Nexus Partners is off to a flying start after launching in December, with the acquisition of Blaze Acumen the first of many expected moves.
Now, the two-decade old Victorian accounting and advisory firm has rebranded and formally made the switch, adding at least eight new partners to the Horizon Nexus mix and necessitating a new office at 35 Collins in order to fit its 100 or so staff under the one roof.
“This is a significant and exciting step forward for our team and clients,” the firm stated. “The trusted relationships, expertise, and personalised approach will continue, but now amplified by the scale, depth, and capability of Horizon Nexus. This next chapter opens up greater opportunity, broader insights, and expanded services for the businesses and individuals we support.”
Remarkably, the cohort of Blaze partners bring somewhere in the region of two and half centuries worth of accounting, tax, and financial advisory experience to the start-up, a fair chunk of that time having being spent at PwC, including as to former partners Frank Spillane and Paul O’Brien prior to breaking away with several directors and staff and establishing Blaze in 2004.
Reunion-inspired growth
Continuing the PwC reunion (Silverwood and Jeraj both joined the firm in the late 90s around the time of its formation), are Peter Whelan, Damien Gaffney, Brett Jackson, and Matthew Edwards, while, of those to have updated their LinkedIn profiles, Daniel Bolzonello and Natasha Sweeting also cross as partners alongside a team of five directors and approximately 60 staff.
Horizon Nexus also hasn’t let up in recruiting new partners, with former PwC directors Charlotte Hayden and Daniel Dowell recently joining the firm’s tax partnership in Melbourne, the former who crosses directly after the past decade at the Big Four firm and the latter who departed after a decade to join BDO as a partner in 2024, with seven years of earlier experience at KPMG thrown in.
Dowell’s recruitment could add to wider industry alarm bells, with Horizon Nexus having to date mostly targeted individuals from the Big Four for senior leadership roles. However, the firm, which has stated its aim of becoming a top-ten mid-tier player, has also poached director duo Andrew Carter and Stephanie Wong from BDO, which, awkward, has its office in the same building.
And while we might have to wait a while yet for any official confirmation, Consultancy.com.au’s report on Horizon’s bold move to chase after PKF’s practice in Brisbane, first reported on by the AFR, attracted plenty of ‘likes’ on LinkedIn from the firm’s senior members. With its new Melbourne office continuing to swell, it’s expected that attention will also soon turn to Sydney.
