The History of Dixcart: 1972 – 2022
This year, Dixcart is delighted to be celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The Group was founded in 1972 and over the last 50 years has grown into 10 offices in 9 different jurisdictions: Cyprus, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Malta, Nevis, Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK. View all of our offices here.
We have been providing professional support services for 50 years and are now celebrating our 50th anniversary.
There has been a large number of individuals significantly involved in the growth of the company over the years – too many to mention in this article. So many have helped to grow the Group offering we have today, from the Managing Directors involved at the inception of each office all the way through to today, to the long-standing staff we have, and professional team that makes Dixcart so special. It is the skill and expertise of our staff that makes us unique, and we are very proud of our people. We are delighted that over the years, a large number of staff have worked for the Group; some for more than twenty years, and a few for over thirty years now.
We take a look back at Dixcart’s history and how it all began:
Chapter 1
Woolford Business
The Woolford business started in 1972 when Percy Woolford decided to move to Sark, in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
At the same time, he established the first Dixcart Office in Guernsey, and began providing international financial services and advisory support for international clients.
Rob Joins the Family Business and expands Dixcart: Madeira and the UK
With Percy Woolford running Dixcart Trust Corporation Limited in Guernsey, Rob Woolford, Percy’s son, was working at Midgley Snelling & Co, a firm of Chartered Accountants in the UK which handled a lot of mutual business. Early in 1989 Rob left Midgley Snelling & Co. and started a new accounting practice in the UK with Peter Wilman, called Woolford & Co Chartered Accountants, along with the establishment of a subsidiary of Dixcart to provide the support in the UK for the international clients of Dixcart. On Monday 3rd April 1989 the Dixcart office in the UK was established.
Meanwhile Percy Woolford had earlier in 1988 opened a new Dixcart office in Madeira, Portugal, to provide corporate services within the Madeira Free trade zone.
The Isle of Man
From 1968 onwards, Rob had worked actively with the Midgley Snelling & Co office in the Isle of Man, handling their international clients. These regular annual visits to the Isle of Man grew the desire to establish a Dixcart IOM office and in April 1989 this was put in place in conjunction with a local firm of Chartered Accountants called Edwards & Hartley, who managed the Dixcart office for many years. It was in 1996 that Dixcart established a physical presence in the Isle of Man, and the Dixcart office was established as a separate entity with its own premise.
Dixcart UK Accountants and Lawyers
Over the next five years, since its inception, Woolford & Co in the UK continued to grow and in 1994 Dixcart International was formed – working closely with the Dixcart offices and clients in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Madeira. Woolford & Co Chartered Accountants concentrated on UK professional services for UK enterprises and the development of an accounting practice.
In 1996 a joint venture called Sandown Insurance Services Limited was started. It was a general insurance brokerage business which ran for a further successful eight years before new rules made the compliance too onerous for a small brokerage business and it was sold.
However, things did not stand still for long!
In 1999, friends of Rob; Paul Morgan and Jeremy Russell left Mackrell Turner Garrett Solicitors and accepted an invitation to join the organisation in the UK, and thus Morgan Russell was born, growing the UK office from a team of accountants to a joint team of accountants and lawyers. In 2014, Morgan Russell adopted the Dixcart name and became Dixcart Legal.
Dixcart UK now has three entities: Dixcart Audit; Dixcart Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers – Dixcart International Limited; and Dixcart Legal Limited.
We have therefore now been providing legal commercial services from the UK to international and UK clients for 20 years.
Next stop: Switzerland
It soon became clear that the expansion of the Group, from a service and marketing perspective, would be enhanced with a presence in Geneva. This resulted in the establishment of Dixcart Corporate Services in Geneva in 1997, initially managed by a local service provider but quickly growing into its own offices and providing local Swiss services. This enhanced the Dixcart Group’s network of contacts and further developed the client base needing Group services.
Chapter 2
A Caribbean presence: Opening the St Kitts & Nevis Office
For a number of years, the cost and simplicity of establishing a Caribbean company through the use of Nevis incorporated entities was very attractive. In 2000 the Group established its own operation there to take inhouse the work provided in Nevis, to provide local compliance and secretarial services for the Group’s clients. The office has grown over the years and also now provides a private client assistance, offering trust and foundation, and re-domiciliation services for individuals, whilst still maintaining the core CSP business.
Dixcart’s Service Offering Continues to Grow: IT and Dixcart Business Centres
In 2004, the Dixcart UK office saw another acquisition when Adder, an IT company, was taken over and became Surrey Business IT in 2005, offering IT support to the Group as well as serviced and virtual offices.
Over the years it was gradually agreed, that as the majority of marketing effort was directed towards the Dixcart brand, Woolford & Co would take advantage of this marketing umbrella and also take the Dixcart name. Since January 2017, the UK accounting side has operated as: Dixcart Audit, Dixcart Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers, Dixcart International and Dixcart Legal Limited.
Over the years Dixcart has always owned the buildings where our offices are based and has provided serviced offices for many years. Dixcart now has five Business Centres, in five different countries. The Business Centres are all in prime locations and offer high quality serviced office space, meeting room facilities, and on-site reception services. Our Dixcart professionals are located in the same building – which allows us to provide additional business support services, if required.
Heading to the Med: Dixcart Malta Office
Malta is an excellent jurisdiction for individuals either relocating to Malta, managing asset protection and succession planning, or for establishing corporate structures. It was a great fit for Dixcart when we decided to open an office in 2007, initially renting space in various offices but culminating in 2010 in the purchase and renovation of a prime office in Ta’Xbiex, enabling the continued expansion of the office and the provision of serviced offices.
Cyprus
Having been established in 2012, in response to client demand, the Dixcart office in Cyprus has grown, as the island has recovered from the turbulent years post credit crunch. Eventually in December 2019,the Dixcart office in Cyprus moved to its new premises in Limassol. With this investment, Dixcart is able to continue its growth and provide clients with a comprehensive range of business support services, including serviced offices in Cyprus.
Dixcart Portugal – Two Locations
In 2017, Dixcart established a second Portuguese office in the centre of Lisbon, Portugal, to complement and enhance the Dixcart offering in Madeira. Even though the Lisbon office is smaller, it has opened up several new business opportunities and has become a central hub for meeting clients and contacts.
2022: Dixcart Turns 50
This year Dixcart is celebrating its 50th Anniversary.
We are an independent group and are proud of our experienced team of well-qualified, professional staff who offer international professional support services across the world.
Dixcart Culture: We are independent
The objective of Dixcart as a Group has been to provide international advice and management to wealth generators, along with the implementation of structures to support individual and family needs for the ongoing organisation of their international financial affairs.
The Dixcart Culture is unique and shapes our identity and corporate personality. It is what makes us different and generally what attracts our clients to us and ensures that they return with new projects requiring additional solutions from us.
- We are independent – privately owned and not tied to any other Group. This means that we can provide clients with impartial advice and the best solutions to meet their specific needs.
- We employ independent thinkers.
- We are proud to be a privately owned business, and this is reflected in our values, both towards our clients and towards each other.
- Even though we have a number of offices in different countries – we meet regularly and there are many deep friendships that run, not only within, but also across the Dixcart offices.
We look forward to the next 50 years.
