I didn’t go to university; I was very focused on my athletics at the expense of my studies. But my dad was an accountant and encouraged me into the profession. With the A levels I had, I joined a small practice under the Youth Training Scheme in place at the time and started my ACCA exams.
Eventually a former manager of mine who went to Touche Ross (now Deloitte) told me about a junior position available there, and I joined in 1996. I stayed for 13 years, getting all the professional and ethical experience you could want. I had a portfolio of owner-managed businesses in different sectors, and I learned a lot through conversations with them about what was happening in their industries. The Big Four have now moved out of that space but my time there was very enjoyable.
The profession is in good shape, and graduates are still keen to join
I later moved to UNW before joining Armstrong Watson in 2024, when the opportunity came up to grow their north-east practice. In the past 18 months, we’ve more than doubled our team, from 50 colleagues to 110, and got some great traction. Roughly a quarter of our 800 people and 50 partners are in audit. We fully intend to stay independent and keep growing, with our absolute focus being client service. With the Big Four and the mid-tier firms increasingly targeting larger clients, a gap has emerged in the market, which we are focusing on.
The profession is in good shape, and graduates are still keen to join. We had 400 applicants for 40 graduate positions across the firm, so the demand is back and people recognise that accountancy is a good career. We have a strong pipeline of students, but recruiting qualified or part-qualified accountants or managers is more challenging – it’s a very competitive market. We have three excellent universities in the north east and we actively engage with students through open days. We’ve invested heavily in our learning and development programme, and that makes us attractive as an employer.
Work is hard enough so you may as well get on with your peers and your competitors
It’s a small world and I’m keen to forge good relationships with the other local firms. We’re keen to collaborate in specialist areas where other practices may not offer certain services their clients need, and I think that’s healthy. Work is hard enough so you may as well get on with your peers and your competitors.
Away from work I spend around 15 hours a week training for triathlons. I find it a huge release. I like having a target to do well in a competition and striving for improvement, and it’s a bit like that when I’m trying to win a new client; I find that really satisfying. I’ve been a season-ticket holder at Newcastle United since 1992, and I go to matches with my father and my brother. But my favourite way to unwind is travelling with my wife and three daughters, and exploring the world together.
