It’s hard to believe that I started my accountancy career over 40 years ago. After leaving school at 16, I started working as a trainee at Grant Thornton – or Thornton Baker as it was then – based in Banbury. There were no computers; everything was analysis pads, A3 trial balances, adding machines, Kalamazoo systems, typing pools and hand-filled tax returns. The pay was poor so I worked three nights a week in a village pub. I gradually climbed the ladder and by 1996 had made partner at what is now CSL Partnership.
I’ve got 40 years of experience dealing with SMEs and personal tax clients, and that has now turned into a selling point. There’s not much I haven’t seen before, but it always amazes me that I’m still learning new things.
If you’ve got a good, settled team, make sure you keep it that way
Earlier this year I took five weeks’ extended leave. It was good to see that my senior management team could run the office without me – and good practice for my eventual retirement. My aim is to get to 50 years in practice and then see where we go from there.
The world has become more demanding. Instant communication makes managing time and boundaries ever more important. Working for yourself makes a big difference. You live and breathe the business – you are one and the same – which can be both good and bad, but you can control what’s going on around you to a large degree. I’m also pretty good at switching off when I need to.
One of the most significant challenges facing the accountancy profession is resourcing. If you’ve got a good, settled team, make sure you keep it that way; it is very difficult to find staff these days. It is as much about finding staff who are the right fit for the team as it is about their technical abilities. The way I would interact with the partner at Thornton Baker is nothing like how my staff interact with me because life is totally different now. One of my clients has always said you should hire on ability and fire on attitude, and he’s right. If you haven’t quite got the ability, that can be trained and nurtured; but if you haven’t got the right attitude, that’s hard to put right.
The current climate is one of the most challenging times for small businesses
I’ve seen good and bad economic times over the past 40 years. Particularly difficult were the early 1990s, when interest rates went to 15% overnight, and the late 2000s. But the current climate is one of the most challenging times for small businesses. Geopolitics, tax policy, inflation and a lack of consumer confidence are all contributing to a very tough market.
When I look back at my career to date, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I count a lot of my clients as good friends, too. I’d like to think I’ve made a real difference over that time, and I’d do it all again.
