Steve Henson
Senior Manager, Business Recovery & InsolvencyAs a qualified and Licensed Insolvency Practitioner, the opportunity of joining Francis Clark was hugely attractive. As the leading firm of Accountants in the South West, the ability to join this firm was a decision that was one of the most straight forward in my career to date.
As a Senior Manager, my position entails not only client work, but also practice development. I attend a number of networking events helping to generate new work and introductions to other professionals thereby increasing not only the turnover of the practice as a whole, but also the profile. Despite Francis Clark being a top 30 firm, it is often the impression of one person that reflects on the whole firm and therefore this, in my view, is an extremely important role.
Insolvency and Business Recovery is a Specialism of accountancy and one which relatively few practices can offer. This is symptomatic of the whole firm. Francis Clark have specialists in all areas of the accountancy profession from International Tax, through to Renewable Energy.
As an Insolvency Practitioner you have to be equipped to deal with what can be an extremely emotional time for your client. I deal with businesses of all sizes, from nationals with multi-million pound turnovers, to the very small. Every client is as important as one another. Insolvency also incorporates individuals who have never been in business. With the recent credit culture, more and more people have fallen foul of credit cards, finance agreements and loans. Often someone’s home is at risk and therefore swift, precise action is not only necessary but essential.
Whilst I have only been with the firm a relatively short time, it already feels like second nature. The staff are extremely friendly and made me feel very welcome. The partners all took time to introduce themselves to me. At no time have I felt that ‘I didn’t belong’. This is a credit to the firm which I believe will continue to grow and further improve and I look forward to being part of it.
Annette Connelly
Business Services ManagerThere isn’t really any such thing as a typical day for me; every day brings new challenges. But of course, that is part of the appeal of the job. I’ve grown with Francis Clark from an accounts trainee to senior business services manager, learning a lot along the way, and still enjoying the journey. The firm has always supported me throughout my career, allowing me to undertake additional relevant training and examinations to enhance my ability to provide a quality service to a wide range of local and national clients.
My role is wide ranging, and three-fold. I have a large portfolio of small companies to manage on a daily basis, from family businesses with annual sales of £50,000 to small groups of companies with turnover of £12 million. Some need more hand-holding than others, and I provide whatever assistance is needed to support their in-house admin and finance staff. The range of advice is far-reaching, from starting up a business, company formation, PAYE, VAT, corporation tax, accounts, cash-flow projections, company law and all related filing requirements with HMRC and Companies House.
My second role focuses on the use of IT, both within the firm and for clients. I have a strong bias towards encouraging the efficient use of IT, especially enabling the integration of different software. The aim is to remove the need to enter information more than once, which saves time and minimises potential inputting errors. This is often applied for the production of timely and accurate management accounts for clients, but also for improving efficient working practices internally. Because this role is very specialised, it means that this part of my job is multi-office, which enables me to work closely with the other offices across the firm, working for a much wider range of interesting clients, planning and presenting training courses, and meeting many other staff firm-wide.
Finally, I am the office manager for the new South Devon office. This involves supporting the trainees in their studies as well as getting involved in the recruitment, motivation and appraisal process for many staff. This is an interesting role, and allows me to have an influence in office decisions. Nurturing our staff is important to me, as I understand their talents are the firm’s biggest asset. Working with a motivated team gives me a buzz, and after 15 years with Francis Clark I have met some fantastic talent, and also made friendships that will last a lifetime.
The most amazing part of Francis Clark for me is the huge variety of talent that we have here, from specialists who have joined from larger firms, but it is especially rewarding to see some of our young trainees grow from graduates into qualified and highly-respected members of a dedicated team. There is such a wide variety of specialist roles available within Francis Clark that there really is something that will create a spark for anyone willing to work hard, use logic and common sense, be a team player, and of course, serve our clients with enthusiasm.
Stuart Rogers
Corporate Tax ConsultantI have a multi office role which requires that I support colleagues where their clients have international issues that they need help with. Whilst my natural bias is corporate tax, I routinely get involved in personal tax matters, employee issues, wealth tax, IHT, stamp duty, customs duty and VAT – as well as pure corporate tax matters such as relocating companies, CFCs, residency, withholding taxes and so on. When advising SMEs you just can’t adopt a silo mentality and so that makes life very interesting.
There isn’t really a typical day for a tax advisor, particularly one who works in international matters. The nature of the work can be very varied and very unpredictable. One day I will be working on a project looking at the detailed workings of the US withholding tax regime and the UK / US double tax treaty, and the next helping a client understand superannuation obligations for the employees they plan to take on in Australia. Since I joined Francis Clark I have advised on transactions with Malaysia, France, US, Peru, Australia, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Holland, Spain, Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man and Guernsey.
After nine years with a smaller tax advisory firm I was looking for something that would allow me to spend more time working on international tax issues which is my main passion, and continue to grow in the other areas which are important to my overall development. The Lexis Nexis Best General Tax Practice Award for 2009 was a great advertisement for the Francis Clark tax practice, but the crucial thing for me was being part of a vibrant tax team that shares ideas and information regularly and can connect into some of the leading tax thinkers in the UK. In my time with the firm, I have learnt a huge amount and have a support network that allows me to focus on some challenging objectives.
