As we move forward with this exciting new era of Eclipse LLP, it’s important to highlight the rich history of the firm – where it started, the important individuals, and how this history set the foundation for our firm today.
Founded in the late 1940’s in Dawson Creek, BC, Eclipse LLP was originally known as Winspear Higgins Stevenson & Co. Winspear Higgins Stevenson & Co was based out of Edmonton and eventually opened offices in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. As stated in a business profile in the Dawson Creek Block News, the firm “maintains a high level of professional quality over its procedures and policies concerning the performance of all duties”. More than 80 years later, this high level of professionalism and quality of work still remains one of our core values.
Jim McPhail, a young articling student in Edmonton, was mentored by the founder of the firm, Francis Winspear. In 1948, McPhail became the manager of the Dawson Creek office. McPhail remained a part of the firm until 1980 when the firm merged with Deloitte, where McPhail retired as part of the merger. This merger “almost doubled the number of professional staff in the firm and strengthened its position in smaller cities” (Fry & Baltazar). This rapid growth and strengthened position allowed the firm to take the next step in 1987, where the Dawson Creek and Fort St. John offices became two separate independent firms. Ben Sander became a partner of the Dawson Creek office in 1987, and the firm’s name eventually changed to BA Sander. Throughout the next 14 years, the Dawson Creek office took on additional partners and eventually merged with the Fort St. John office in 2001 to become Sander Wrixon Downie.
The firm continued to take on new partners throughout the next decade and eventually changed its name to Sander Rose Bone Grindle LLP in 2011. In 2012 the firm merged with DG Smith & Co. Don Smith was a former Winspear Higgins Stevenson & Co employee who started his own accounting firm in Fort St. John in the early 1980’s which made the merger a good fit for both firms. The firm continued to grow and opened a new office in Grande Prairie in 2014.
Finally, at the end of 2024, the firm rebranded to Eclipse LLP. With this re-brand, we hope to highlight our dedication to innovation, deepen our support for the communities we serve, and align with the bold vision we have for the future, while ultimately embodying our three core values of Quality. Balance. Integrity.
