Charter Partners

Charter Partners is a highly successful practice, but rose from humble beginnings in 1932. The first office was situated in part of the upstairs section of the building at 239 Mary St, Gympie with Mr A K Leitch as practising Accountant. The office was shared with Bill Stewart from Stewart & Co and the practice was well established during the 1940s.... Another office was opened at Murgon. Mr Leitch's son, David, joined his father after qualifying at just nineteen years of age. The practice was then known as A K Leitch & Son. A larger office was soon required by the Gympie staff which instigated the move to 232 Mary Street. Mr Ray Saunders began his association with the practice working in the Murgon Office, before joining the Gympie staff in 1962. Mr Leitch Senior, retired. Ray Saunders became a partner with David Leitch, and the practice name changed to Leitch & Saunders. David Leitch moved into other fields and at some stage in the 1970s, another name change to R A Saunders & Co. Mr Saunders was the instigator in the formation of Gympie & North Coast Building Society of which he was Secretary/Manager. He also held key positions in the administration of Gympie Finance Company, Gympie Co-op Building Societies and Gympie Cemetery Trust. About 1974, the Accountancy Practice and all its attachments moved to 214 Mary St, formerly the Royal Exchange Hotel. The Building Society went on to an online computer system and R A Saunders & Co bought its first computer, a Wang using Hartly software. Until this time, all accountancy procedure were handled manually. Mr John Fell joined the practice at this stage and a little later brothers Brendan and David McGarry also came into the office. All three became partners with Ray Saunders and the practice became Saunders, Fell & McGarry. An office was established in Brisbane and eventually the McGarrys bought this section of the practice. They moved to the city and became a separate identity. James Laird and Richard McGrath joined the Gympie staff in 1977. They worked in the office ...Read More