Global expertise, local impact: Highlights from the Baker Tilly Europe Conference in Athens

Hosted by Baker Tilly South East Europe, which shared the exciting news of its proposed merger with MHA plc during the event, the Baker Tilly Europe Conference 2025 saw over 140 delegates from around the world share their view of the present and future state of the network as well as the wider professional services sector.

CBN was invited to attend parts of the 6- 9 May event to get a glimpse of the expanding network’s operational framework, exciting developments and future plans.

The Conference welcomed over 140 delegates from 42 countries — not only from around Europe, but also from as far afield as USA, South Africa, Mexico, India, Central Asia, and beyond — who had the opportunity to share their expertise and experiences with colleagues across the Baker Tilly network.

One of the exciting announcements came from Marios A. Klitou, CEO of Baker Tilly South East Europe, during his welcome note, who revealed that the leading professional services firm — offering a comprehensive range of services in Cyprus, Greece and South East Europe — has entered into a heads-of-terms agreement to merge with MHA plc, a leading UK-based provider of audit and assurance, tax, accountancy and advisory services. MHA is the UK and Ireland's representative of the Baker Tilly International Network.

Marios A. Klitou

In her address, Baker Tilly International CEO Francesca Lagerberg, among other things, talked about the accelerated pace at which things were moving within the professional services sector and Baker Tilly’s role in it all. She noted that revenue forecasts were surpassing initial expectations and encouraged the network to continue working together towards their mutual benefit and the benefit of their clients.

Francesca Lagerberg

Then, Donal Laverty, Consulting Partner at Baker Tilly Mooney Moore, spoke about the importance of future-ready firms having a people-first approach. Fabio Delbosco, Regional Director for the EMEA region, returned to the stage to talk about the state of the region in connection to Baker Tilly’s activities.

Donal Laverty

Fabio Delbosco

Former Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Costas Fragoyiannis, who is now Greece’s Prime Minister’s Advisor on Extroversion went on to present the country’s impressive economic recovery and excellent prospects to the international delegates.

The topic of consolidation was examined in a panel discussion mediated by Adam Grainger, Chief Operating Officer at Baker Tilly International and featuring Savvas M.Klitou, Regional Managing Partner of Baker Tilly South East Europe; Rakesh Shaunak, CEO of MHA, Erik Moens, Audit Partner and Ronald Hoeskel CEO at Baker Tilly Netherlands.

Participants shared their experience of various types of external investment have taken place within the Baker Tilly network.

Next on stage was Carly Schell, Director of Commercial and International Business, who among other things elaborated on the importance of a dedicated business development team and encouraged delegates to make the most of the resources available to them through the international office.

Then, Deepak Upadhyaya, Partner, Digital Technology & Risk Advisory at Baker Tilly Canada presented the exciting applications new technologies such as AI offer the professional services sector. Upadhyaya encouraged the delegates to become acquainted with AI tools as soon as possible while also advising on the need for due care to be taken, including the creation of a dedicated policy being put in place to ensure the safekeeping of client data.

Deepak Upadhyaya