International firm Kennedys and Scottish firm Simpson & Marwick have put merger plans on hold. A statement released today said that though ‘good progress’ had been made since the intention to merge was announced on 30 August 'it will now not happen on the projected completion date of 1 November'. 

The deal was expected to create a firm with more than 1,500 staff members and a combined turnover predicted to exceed £160m this financial year.

The statement continued: 'A number of aspects of the merger could not be finalised within the ambitious timetable we had set ourselves.' 

Kennedys’ senior partner Nick Thomas stated: 'Since announcing our merger, the two firms have been working increasingly closely together. There is a huge amount of goodwill between the two firms and we remain confident of being able to conclude matters shortly.' 

Peter Anderson, managing partner of Simpson & Marwick, added: 'As this is a true merger, considerable efforts are being made on both sides to respect differing practice and business arrangements. We imposed on ourselves a tight timetable and we have not been able to resolve all the merger details by our proposed date. However, we continue to work on this and will make a further announcement as soon as possible.'