Dubai-based professional services firm Cresco expands into Philippines

Dubai-based professional services firm Cresco has expanded its operations into the Philippines, with a new office launched in Cebu marking its first entry into Asia.

Established in 2010 and based in Dubai, Cresco offers lines in accounting, legal and compliance, and has derived its name the Latin word ‘crescere’, meaning to grow or expand. Now, the firm is doing just that, with a newly launched office in the Philippines’ second most populous city of Cebu – a base which has been expanding itself in recent years with a growing volume of investment.

Beyond its increasing business opportunities, the selection of Cebu for the firm’s launch of its Cresco Shared Services offering was twofold; due to the city’s less relative density as compared to the congestion of Manila offering a better quality of life and working conditions for employees, and for the sourcing of those employees to begin with – with future plans to operate 24/7.

“When plans to expand in Asia came about, Cebu was first on the list,” Cresco president Maricar Gonzaga told the SunStar media outlet in Cebu. “Cresco wanted to tap the highly educated, English-speaking, and proven talent pool of Cebu.” The sentiment was echoed by Cresco Holding managing director Michael Waechter, who noted more broadly that the available stream of qualified local professionals was a major factor in the group’s expansion to the country.

The firm will look to hire a number of certified public accountants in its initial year of trading, expanding its staff pool from six employees at present, before potentially branching out into other lines in the future, including the firm’s offerings in legal services and cloud solutions. “Our global expansion will begin in Cebu,” Willem Smit, managing partner of CRESCO Legal said, although the division currently has outlets in the Netherlands, Singapore, India, Costa Rica, and the US.

With preliminary offshore support provisions in the areas of accounting, finance and customer support, the firm intends for its new Philippines’ branch to leverage its established overseas network, with Gonzaga saying; “We have a deep technical bench under one roof. The team we offer to our clients will be working as if they’re part of the clients’ organisation. When you choose Cresco, you don’t just hire an accountant but instead you hire the whole team.”

Other entities under the Cresco Holding banner include SME Middle East market entry and business consulting firm Sadiqa, and Hensley&Cook, a corporate service provider specialised in the incorporation and administration of companies in the UAE and other jurisdictions. Meanwhile, Cresco Legal earlier this year announced a deal for the use of artificial intelligence software Luminance, claiming in doing so to be first law firm in the Middle East to embrace such technology for the benefit of its clients.