What is in a name? While Shakespeare might profess that a rose by any other name would smell so sweet, the Ratner brand was permanently tarnished by a few unwise words by one of its own directors 30 years ago.
The Ramsay Brown name for medical professionals has existed for some 80+ years, a name that has continued to represent the highest quality personal care and advice with the professionalism of a strong and well-qualified team.
The origins of the name of the practice began in the 1930s. Mr. Harold Stephenson Ramsay Brown started the practice from a small office in The Strand, opposite Charing Cross Hospital, whose clinicians sought advice from Mr. Ramsay Brown, establishing its initial medical base.
In the late 1950s, chartered accountant Mr. Stanley Slavin (Laurence’s father) joined Mr. Ramsay Brown in partnership, and the firm at the time was known as Ramsay Brown and Partner – note the singular tense!
Mr. Ramsay Brown died in the early 1960s and Mr. Stanley Slavin continued in practice, maintaining the name and its specialism, moving the practice out of central London to Whetstone in the early 1970s.
In the late 1970s, he was joined in partnership by chartered accountant David Newman once again continuing with the same name and specialism. It was Mr. Stanley Slavin that first had articles published in Medeconomics, some 40 years ago now.
In 1980, Laurence (aka Laurie) Slavin joined Ramsay Brown and Partner as a trainee chartered accountant, but after a few years, fearing this training would be too narrow, transferred his training contract to Stoy Hayward (now BDO) completing his training and qualifying as a chartered accountant in their specialist tax department.
In the summer of 1987, on a visit to see a general practitioner client, the client noted growth in Mr. Stanley Slavin’s neck and urged him to have this investigated. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma was diagnosed. To help with the running of the practice, Laurence was brought in as a partner in September 1987 with dispensation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants for such early admission.
With this addition, the firm changed its name to Ramsay Brown and Partners (plural – for Stanley, David and Laurence). Very sadly, Mr. Stanley Slavin died from his disease in December 1987, just six months after diagnosis, leaving the partnership of Ramsay Brown and Partners in the hands of David Newman and Laurence Slavin. It quickly became evident that without Stanley Slavin, David and Laurence were not a good fit, and they decided to split the practice, with Laurence continuing with Ramsay Brown and Partners and Mr. David Newman working in his own practice.
Around this time, Laurence met Mr. Stuart Singer, and after working for a while in collaboration, Laurence invited Stuart to join him in partnership at Ramsay Brown and Partners. After successfully completing a period of probation, Mr. Stuart Singer joined Laurence. In the subsequent years, Laurence and Stuart were joined by their former trainees Kate Perry and Jenny Stone, and latterly Katie Singer who had trained elsewhere. By March 2019, the partners agreed that with differing aspirations they needed to find other ways to continue to look after their clients.
Ramsay Brown LLP was formed by Laurence Slavin together with Katie Collin and Anil Sookharry in partnership. With the entire tax department of the former Ramsay Brown and Partners, they continue the name with an enhanced range of services and an experienced and highly qualified team of professionals with a breadth of knowledge.
What would Mr. Harold Stephenson Ramsay Brown, or Mr. Stanley Slavin make of the current Ramsay Brown firm? Of course, it is impossible to say, but Laurence, of course, knowing his father as he did, is confident that his father, Mr. Stanley Slavin and most probably Mr. Ramsay Brown would be proud to see their former practice’s name thriving and developing.
The current logo of Laurel leaves has been chosen carefully as classical representations of honour, the fundamental basis on which the current practice has been built. The current partners are fiercely proud of their independence, not owned by anyone else and running their practice from a single office in North Finchley – less than a mile from the offices Mr. Stanley Slavin moved to in the 1970s. As for the future, with a team of dedicated professionals it is hoped and expected that the Ramsay Brown name will have a long and successful life.
