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Library services and heritage

ICAEW Foundation aims to enhance the ICAEW’s specialist Library and Information service (LIS) and to conserve the heritage of Chartered Accountants’ Hall, ICAEW’s symbolic headquarters.

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Designed by John Belcher in the Italian renaissance style in 1890, Chartered Accountants’ Hall is a listed architectural landmark. It is not only a place of historic and architectural interest, but a symbol of the continuity and relevance of one of the longest established professions in the world. It is a working building that reflects the position of ICAEW as a world-leading body. The conservation and preservation of our historic home for the benefit of current and future members is a duty we take seriously.

Heritage assets

In 2017, ICAEW Foundation supported the reacquisition and return of the four ICAEW Henry Holiday stained glassed windows originally commissioned for Chartered Accountants’ Hall and installed in 1897. These magnificent windows were removed in 1970 to accommodate the Whitfield tower extension.

The windows were reinstated on the 90th anniversary of the death of their creator, Henry Holiday and in time for the 125th anniversary of Chartered Accountants’ Hall in 2018.

“The stained glass windows commissioned from Henry Holiday in the 1890s for Chartered Accountants’ Hall were the most important of their date in the City of London. Returning them to their original and correct home in 2017 was a significant and entirely admirable achievement for the Foundation”

Charles W Hind, FSA
Chief Curator and H.J. Heinz Curator of Drawings,
RIBA British Architectural Library, Victoria & Albert Museum

Library & Information Service (LIS)

The Library & Information Service provides a range of services and resources to support chartered accountants in all aspects of their work. This specialist library provides an enquiry and book loan service, and access to a range of current and historical accounting, auditing, tax and business information.

Rare Books Collection

ICAEW is also the custodian of over 3,000 archived rare books on accounting. Spanning six centuries, these volumes are the result of over 100 years of careful collection and include Pacioli’s “Summa di arithmetica”. The Foundation funds projects such as cataloguing these rare archives and making them available online, providing unique access to valuable historic information on the development of accounting and commerce.