The deal broadens the Shaw Gibbs Group’s (Shaw Gibbs) service offering with a dedicated HR consultancy arm, creating a combined team of 645 professionals across 18 offices in Central and Southern England.

The acquisition, which is the 11^th completed by Shaw Gibbs since 2023, will give the group’s client base of around’ 7,000 businesses access to Reality HR’s specialist HR consultancy services and team of CIPD-qualified consultants.

Clients of Shaw Gibbs will also benefit from access to Reality HR’s recruitment services and established Learning and Development team, including an Executive Coach, a Mediator and Insights Discovery practitioners, alongside tailored training solutions and development programmes for business leaders and managers.

The Reality HR team, largely based in and around Basingstoke, will continue to operate independently while expanding the support available to their client base nationwide.  

Sally-Ann Hall-Jones, CEO at Reality HR, will continue to lead the business as it joins Shaw Gibbs.

She said:

“I am immensely proud of how much Reality HR has grown since it was founded in 2004, from small boutique consultancy to one of the largest in the UK. We are now at the next stage in our growth journey and Shaw Gibbs can provide support and scale to build on our success.

“Shaw Gibbs is a perfect match for us – the team there share our values and our belief in putting people at the heart of business success.”

Laura Davis, Chair of Reality HR, added:

“Joining Shaw Gibbs brings exciting opportunities for our team, including access to greater resources and more diverse projects and new career pathways.

“We’re also proud to bring our expertise to Shaw Gibbs’ partners and clients, helping even more businesses succeed by getting the best out of their people.”

Peter O’Connell, CEO of the Shaw Gibbs Group said:

“We are thrilled to welcome Reality HR to Shaw Gibbs.

“It’s important to us to find firms with a similar culture and client-base to collaborate with, as well as the drive to provide high quality advisory services. The team at Reality HR share our commitment to excellence, client service, quality and building lasting relationships, making them a perfect fit.

“We can now offer our clients genuine specialist people support backed by a team with proven expertise and a strong reputation in the sector.”

Reality HR is renowned for working in partnership with business owners, leaders and in-house HR teams, offering a range of support including day-to-day HR, rapid response, large projects, employee engagement programmes, management training, and recruitment.

The addition of Reality HR to the Shaw Gibbs Group will result in a practice with 55 Partners and 645 people based in Central and Southern England.

Shaw Gibbs Group was advised by Osborne Clarke. Reality HR was advised by Will Anderson of Clarke & Sons.

For more information see shawgibbs.com and realityhr.co.uk

About Reality HR

Reality HR is a team of CIPD-qualified HR Consultants, supporting businesses to get the best out of their people through day-to-day HR, complex people management projects and urgent HR support. The team specialises in learning and development, employee engagement programmes, tailored management training, employee relations, strategic HR planning, restructuring and redundancy support, and recruitment.

www.realityhr.co.uk

About the Shaw Gibbs Group

Shaw Gibbs is a top 40 accountancy practice who provide expert solutions for entrepreneurial businesses and private individuals in Central and Southern England. Investing in teams of high-quality specialists, they work with the best-in-breed technology to create value for clients which exceeds expectation.

www.shawgibbs.com

This marks at least the fifth consecutive year that DFK ANZ has been featured in this highly regarded industry list, reflecting their continued commitment to excellence.

According to the Australian Financial Review, this year's rankings highlight the innovative ways accounting firms are embracing AI and automation to transform service delivery, streamline operations and enhance accuracy. Across Australia and New Zealand, our member firms continue to adopt smart technologies that improve efficiency, elevate the client experience and enable advisers to focus on higher-value strategic work.

DFK ANZ's ongoing presence in the Top 24 reflects the dedication of our member firms to evolving with the industry and delivering forward-thinking solutions - something DFK ANZ, and DFK International, has consistently championed across the region and globally.

Congratulations to DFK ANZ and our members for being part of this continued success.

DFK International is delighted to announce that DFK Nugents, Australia, has been awarded the prestigious DFK International Firm of the Year 2025 at our Global Conference in Edinburgh.

DFK Nugents has demonstrated exceptional commitment across every level of our association. Their team consistently contributes expertise, supports and mentors fellow members, and actively seeks innovative ways to collaborate locally, regionally and globally. They are an outstanding example of DFK values in action, and we are extremely proud to recognise all that they do.

Accepting the award at the Global Conference, Gary Nugent and Dario Gamba represented the firm and joined peers from around the world in celebrating this achievement.
Speaking on behalf of the firm, DFK Nugents said:

“We’re incredibly proud to share that DFK Nugents has been named DFK International Firm of the Year 2025. We’re grateful for the opportunities to collaborate and grow within the DFK International community, and we’re honoured to be recognised among such outstanding global peers.”

Congratulations to the entire DFK Nugents team on this well-deserved recognition and we thank them for their continued dedication, leadership and contribution to our global community.