I finished my undergraduate degree in English literature and film in 2017 – something completely unrelated to accounting! My parents both work in finance and they met at an accounting firm, so really I just rebelled against the numbers in my blood until I was 21.
I joined PJCO as an accounting trainee and pretty much from the minute I started, I knew I had made the right decision. It all just clicked and made sense.
The ACCA trainee programme at PJCO offers trainees responsibility quite early on. The whole time I was thinking about the next step; it wasn’t long before I was telling the partners that I wanted to be a partner. Thankfully, they saw the potential in me to allow me the chance to give it a fair go. After I qualified, I was given more and more responsibility so that I could develop the skills I’d need to run a practice – things like professional indemnity insurance, GDPR and the financing of the partnership.
Our client base is mainly SMEs, with a dedicated department working with landlords and buy-to-let properties. A lot of our clients are either start-ups or entrepreneurs who need guidance to keep on the right side of HMRC and maximising their return on time and investment.
Passing on the baton will be fundamental in allowing me the work-life balance that I want to achieve
The partnership structure that I’ve entered at PJCO is highly unusual but it’s a win-win for me. I’ve been offered an opportunity to accelerate my career more quickly than I would have been able to at another practice.
I am so passionate about developing the team and allowing them the opportunities that were offered to me. Not only do I want to pass on the baton, this will also be fundamental in allowing me the work-life balance that I want to achieve.
With interest rates having gone up, the cost of financing has been a massive challenge for our clients. We have seen a decline in leveraging finance for growth due to rising costs, and an even sharper decline in new landlords coming into the buy-to-let space.
Aside from this, I think the biggest challenge facing the industry is the growth and speed of technology developments. This makes it incredibly hard for us to benchmark and choose the best apps for our practice. There are so many competitors in each space, so you have to decipher which is the best option for you.
It’s great to see a transformation in the profession, where people are sharing ideas
PJCO is the only practice I’ve ever worked in, so it’s been important for me to build up my network externally. Last year I joined the QuickBooks Council to help with product development; I have made connections with lots of different accountants, which has been invaluable. It’s great to see a transformation in the profession, where people are sharing ideas. At the end of the day we’re all serving the same market and trying to help SMEs survive and grow.
