One of the county's best known accountants and business advisors has been taken over.

Wilkins Kennedy, which has offices in Canterbury, Ashford, Maidstone and Sandwich, in addition to others across the south east, is now part of international business services group CogitalGroup.

The accountants will be part of its UK regional business Baldwins.

Wilkins Kennedy has more than 700 employees and partners and an annual turnover in excess of £54 million. In total it has 18 offices across London and the south east and is one of the largest practices in the home counties.

The offices will continue to operate as Wilkins Kennedy, which was originally founded in 1882.

The CogitalGroup, established two years ago by John Connolly, former UK head of Deloitte with backing from HG Capital, has annual revenues of £480m, employing around 6,000 people across 170 offices.

Rob Reynolds, from Wilkins Kennedy in Kent, believes the move will act as a catalyst for further growth.

He said: “For our clients, it will be a case of business as usual although working with Baldwins provides us with a powerful platform to further support our clients with additional expertise. When our clients look to us for help, we will be able to provide exceptional advice tailored to their individual needs.

“We have a shared vision with Baldwins on the high quality of service we can provide our clients across accounting and broader business services, we will complement their presence across the rest of the UK.

“A core part of our diverse client base is made up of owner managed SMEs at varying stages of their journeys, and by working within the enlarged business we’ll be able to provide additional resource to our one-stop-shop offering."

Mr Connolly, Cogital's executive chairman, said: "This development represents a further significant step forward for CogitalGroup as we complete the first year of our five year plan to build a leading, technology driven, international business services group. Wilkins Kennedy is a highly regarded firm with a strong position in the entrepreneurial and private company market, which is the significant market segment where we focus."