About Us

Practice History

Lambert Chapman began life as Michael L Lambert & Co in New London Road Chelmsford in July 1970. After a period as a sole trader Michael merged with Alliot Pearson to become their Essex office.

In 1979 Michael decided to come out of the group and with Lloyd Chapman, who he introduced as a Partner, the name Lambert Chapman was first used. Another Chapman, Ken and no relation to Lloyd joined the firm as an accounts and tax partner in the early 1980’s.

Current Managing partner Nigel Whittle had joined the firm in 1980 as a school leaver and after taking his foundation course left the Chelmsford office on secondment to the London office of Alliot Pearson. After qualifying and completing articles in the City he rejoined Chelmsford office firstly as a manager and was offered the opportunity to open the Braintree office in August 1986 when a proposed merger fell through leaving the business with a new lease and few local clients.

Nigel became a partner in 1987 and has supervised the growth of the Braintree office from one first floor room to 3,450 square feet of offices and 35 local staff as we approach our 21st anniversary.

Maldon office opened into the group in 1990 when Gale Brown Stichbury, a long established firm in Maldon run by Bill Stichbury, decided that for retirement purposes an exit route was required. We moved the business from first floor offices in the High Street to much larger premises in Spital Road.

During the 1990’s Lambert Chapman introduced Nick Forsyth, Chris Harman, John Smith-Daye, Melinda Atkinson, Paul Short and Martyn Rust into the Partnership and these principals helped develop the Lambert Chapman philosophy that exists today.

Chelmsford moved to its current location in Springfield Road in 1999 and the Maldon office recently relocated to The Custom House.

Lisa Potter joined the Partnership in July 2003 replacing Michael Lambert and Lloyd Chapman who both retired in June 2003. Martyn Rust followed suit in 2005 before emigrating to Australia.

On 28 September 2007, after trading for 37 years predominantly as a Partnership the firm took the step to become a Limited Liability Partnership which made all the Partners "Members". This was followed by the introduction of Stephen Jones and Beverley Hill as new Members on  1 October 2007 with both assisting Melinda to grow our business in Chelmsford.

Lambert Chapman is today a well respected independent practice throughout Essex. All the partners, both current and retired have contributed to making this happen through their commitment to the firm. We hope that our clients continue to benefit from that commitment into the future.

For contact details of the Offices and directions to each location please visit the Offices page.