I had been with DJCA for six years when, a few years back, I did a management buyout after the director indicated his desire to retire. I managed to keep full retention of our clients, while the former director is still a friend, which is the most important part. A lot of what made it successful was the trust between us.

The team has now increased from half a dozen to about 30, and our turnover has tripled. We deal with some high-growth clients, and the scope of engagement can move in line with that type of growth, so we’ve grown with our clients.

Before running a 250km ultramarathon across the Sahara, I stayed in Dubai to adjust to the heat

I wanted to build a commercial business rather than a traditional accountancy practice structure, which would be heavily reliant on me. So I’ve built up business units – for instance, we have a payroll bureau, which operates in sync with the rest of the practice but can also stand alone. Our main specialisms are hospitality and high-growth tech start-ups. If we are approached by a company in another sector, I refer them to someone within my network.

Client service is an absolute priority. As you scale up, you want to make sure that standards are maintained and values upheld. You don’t want a practice where, for example, the accounts team doesn’t speak to payroll, as that impacts client service.

We have an office in the Philippines with seven or eight people working predominantly in our compliance and management accounts team. They’re trained through the graduate programme we set up there and are CPA-qualified. It enables our UK accountants to be more client-facing. We’ll jump on a call with the Philippines colleagues whenever necessary – they are very much part of our team.

Recruitment is the most pressing issue. When you bring in recruits from outside, standards aren’t as high as those you set internally, so I prefer to recruit through my own channels.

I want a practice that also enables me and my staff to fulfil our dreams outside of work

I recently completed the Marathon des Sables. I saw the Olympian James Cracknell run this 250km ultramarathon across the Sahara nearly 15 years ago and finally decided to scratch the itch. It’s been a big life commitment over the past 18 months – I lived in Dubai for four weeks before the race to adjust to the heat. It was 50 degrees at some points during the day. It was an amazing sense of satisfaction at the end. I was the first GB athlete across the line and placed 18 out of 1,200 participants while raising over £10,000 for charity.

My next milestone race is the 100-mile Grindstone Mountain race in Virginia, US. Next summer I’m aiming for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

I do enjoy my work but running and raising money for charity is my major passion. I want a practice that also enables me to fulfil my dreams outside of work. I’ve tried to make sure that’s the case for our team as well.

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