History, values and purpose

Blick Rothenberg was founded in 1945 by Helmut Rothenberg OBE, who successfully re-built a life in London from Germany after World War II.

Together with Bernard Blick, a specialist in insurance, the firm started life on Copthall Avenue – now home to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

The firm has developed a great deal over the years and whilst we act for a number of UK businesses and individuals our continental origins continue to be reflected in the international breadth of our clients and services to this day.

Our evolution

• 1945 – Blick Rothenberg founded by Helmut Rothenberg OBE
• 1945 – Acquired first premises on Copthall Avenue, London
• 1945 – Total fee income £2,061, bills issued 56, number of clients 36
• 1946 – Our first ever employee, a secretary, joined the firm
• 1946 – Henry Rothenberg (Helmut’s brother) joined as a partner
• 1947 – Our first professional member of staff, Phil Phillips joined the business
• 1949 – Bernard Blick established a separate general insurance broking business
• 1960s – Manchester Chartered Accountant Eric Noble joined the firm and we became Blick Rothenberg & Noble
• 1966 – Helmut Rothenberg’s son David joined the business
• 1968 – Henry Rothenberg died tragically aged just 51, at the height of his career
• 1977 – Helmut Rothenberg’s son Bob joined the firm
• 1989 – Helmut Rothenberg retired as partner, the firm became known as Blick Rothenberg again, and Helmut remained a consultant of the firm until his death in 2003, aged 88
• 2012 – Blick Rothenberg relocated to our current premises at Covent Garden and became incorporated as an LLP
• 2016 – In October, private equity firm HgCapital established CogitalGroup, through which it acquired Blick Rothenberg
• 2017 – Bob Rothenberg remained the firm’s senior partner until February 2017
• 2017 – Acquired Shelley Stock Hutter in December 2017
• 2018 – Acquired Westleton Drake in July and Hazlems Fenton in November
• 2019 – Acquired Rees Pollock in September. The firm continues to expand becoming part of CogitalGroup. The firm has over 60 partners and directors and over 600 people
• 2020 – Nilesh Shah retires as CEO and is succeeded by Nimesh Shah
• 2020 – CogitalGroup rebrands as Azets
• 2021 – The Rees Pollock brand is retired and the team is fully integrated under the Blick Rothenberg brand
• 2021 – July – Blick Rothenberg becomes an independent member of Allinial Global
• 2023 – All of Blick Rothenberg departments and services are brought together under one roof at Great Queen Street

Part of Azets

Since 2016 Blick Rothenberg has been a part of what is now known as the Azets group.

A significant majority of the economic interest in Blick Rothenberg is held by investment funds managed and operated by Hg Capital.  The balance of 23% is held by current and former employees of the Azets group.  Within the funds operated by Hg Capital there is no one investor with a controlling interest.  Further detail on the nature of the investors in these funds is available here.

Being part of  the Azets group has allowed us to continue our development, keeping pace with our clients’ rapidly changing requirements, whilst maintaining our culture of supporting and developing our people, and investing in innovative technology to support the delivery of a truly excellent service.

Our Values

We want success for our people, our clients and for our business.

One of our differentiators has always been our ethos and culture, both within the firm and with our clients.

We have a nurturing culture that is caring and protecting of our people alongside an environment where they can develop and flourish. This ethos is also reflected in the way that we work with clients, taking time to understand their business and investing in the relationship to ensure that we can provide the best possible advice.

In order to help preserve this winning formula, to help pass it on to new joiners to the firm and to explain it to new clients, we have articulated our approach in the firm’s values of authentic, collaborative, dynamic and respectful.