Kerr & Company and MNP share values, decide to join forces

Chris Kerr over the last couple of years had been contemplating how to help his clients as they faced new opportunities and challenges.

The namesake of Kelowna’s Kerr & Company, which provides a range of professional services, including accounting and tax services, to organizations throughout the Okanagan, saw a great opportunity with MNP and decided to make the move.

The two companies have joined forces, with Kerr becoming an MNP partner and his nine employees now working under the umbrella of the large national firm.

“The Okanagan is a prosperous and diverse economy with many vibrant communities stretching across a wide geography,” says Trina Warren, MNP’s regional managing partner for Thompson Okanagan. “We constantly look for opportunities to further our commitment to the area and are delighted to add Kerr & Company—a firm that shares our values and client-centric approach—into the fast-growing MNP fold.

“Like MNP, Kerr & Company helps clients of all shapes and sizes to achieve their goals. We’re excited to be joining forces at a time when we believe we can help businesses across the region to navigate in an uncertain environment.”

Kerr & Company brought to MNP clients from Kelowna, Vernon and Vancouver who enjoyed big firm quality with the personalized service of a smaller boutique firm. It specializes in real estate, construction and trades, and professionals, and Kerr believes the merger will strengthen his team’s ability to support its clients through unprecedented and dynamic market conditions.

MNP will be able to support Kerr & Company’s growing client base through the support of its additional services and advisory teams. That help will come in the form of specialty tax planning, succession planning, performance improvement and technology solutions.

“I have been thinking about how I can best support my clients as they face the challenges and opportunities created by this historically unusual environment,” Kerr says. “I am also focused on ways to strengthen the experience and expertise that our team offers. “MNP has terrific experience in all the areas we work in, and their team will complement and enhance our current service offerings. They will bring greater bench strength to service our clients across the Kelowna area, while also helping the continued growth and development of our team members.”

Kerr and his team have moved into the new MNP Kelowna office in Landmark 7 and will work closely with MNP’s existing teams across the Thompson Okanagan offices in Kamloops, Vernon and Kelowna to provide greater resources and services to businesses across the region.

“As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, organizations across all industries are now facing new challenges in the shape of inflationary pressures and the possibility of a potential recessionary period,” Warren says. “As a result, we’re experiencing growing demand from businesses who are looking for help navigating this difficult environment.

“This merger truly is a win-win for both our firms and the Okanagan marketplace, as we will be able to reach and support more of those organizations with their journey. We’re thrilled to welcome Chris and the Kerr & Company professionals into the MNP team.”

It is that kind of viewpoint and culture within the organization that attracted Kerr to join forces with MNP. “Although MNP is a large national firm, it’s best known across Canada for being local in focus and having a small-firm culture and commitment to supporting the communities that its teams live and work in,” Kerr says. “This is something that has always been very important to me: When you’re making a move as significant as this the ‘fit’ has to be right for everyone—your people, clients and community. I couldn’t be more excited about joining forces with MNP.”

For more information, visit MNP Kelowna's website here.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.