10 | 2014 Finance Awards
Business Development Adviser of the Year - UK
Swinton Accountants The team at Swinton Accountants are delighted to accept the award for Business Development Adviser of the Year - UK. The award is a great accolade to the hard work the company and all the team have put in to being far more than just accountants.
This is achieved by agreeing a fixed monthly fee with the customer which is beneficial to the customer as it clearly spreads the costs of our services including the usual compliance services but also covers all communication and any other services agreed with the customer such as business monitoring and development. This means that our customers are not afraid to get in touch to share a challenge or talk through an opportunity. Working like this we build trust and true partnership as we understand our customers business on a far deeper level than just numbers and helping them to develop and excel. Providing our customers with true business confidence is key to everything we do at Swinton Accountants allowing us to make a positive difference to their business goals. We work with small and medium sized companies across the UK but with an emphasis on those in the Eastern Region. The businesses we work with are diverse and from a range of different sectors but they all share a passion for growth. In many cases the pursuit of growth will mean that additional finance is required by the customer, an area where we have developed particular expertise. Despite the recent challenging economic climate we have maintained a very strong track record in raising corporate funding for our customers, at the time of writing it’s still a 100% success rate.
We believe this success is down to knowing the customer’s business and thinking more widely about their challenges and making sure we understand the root cause of any issues. We can then look at a wide range of possible solutions. In today’s diverse market place there really are numerous solutions and it is finding the right one or combination that works best for our customers which will not necessarily be the traditional route. We have developed particular expertise in obtaining funding for customers whether it be for a business, property or asset purchase, short term funding, longer term cash flow or to take on more staff to support expansion. All funding options and combinations are explored (including grant funding) knowing which source to approach and how to present the business case to find the right solution for the customer. In addition to raising finance we assist customers with business development and the achievement of their goals. This could be to expand the business and its profitability in the short term or to prepare the business for a possible sale or succession and estate planning in the longer term. Every case is different and may not necessarily be for financial gain, one particular case involved systemisation so that the business owner could free their weekend from tedious and time consuming business record keeping. We also assisted a customer to rebrand their business giving the various branches a corporate identity which is now well known in the area. We have embraced modern software accounting solutions so that we can provide a cost effective and customer friendly answer to their needs. We work extensively with cloud based software to streamline procedures and we deliberately pick software for the business owner rather than accountant. The reports produced by the software are easy to read give the business owner the key information they need at a click of a mouse and trends, problems and variations are easily identified. We display the information in a format that our customers understand because it is essential that they understand what is happening in their business rather than for our convenience. The advantage of the cloud based software is that customers can have access to real time accounts from their office, home or holiday villa. We promise to: • Never surprise you with bills you’re not expecting • Provide a friendly, courteous and efficient service • Always exceed your expectations • Listen to what YOU are saying • Communicate with you quickly and fully • Advise you on how to pay the least amount of tax (legally) • Provide hands-on business advice without accountants’ jargon
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Fact File
“We believe this success is down to knowing the customer’s business and thinking more widely about their challenges and making sure we understand the root cause of any issues.” Company: Swinton Accountants Email: enquire@ swintonaccountants.co.uk Web: www.swintonaccountants.co.uk Tel: +44 01603 812131
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Our strong ethos in supporting SME’s is what has helped lead to this success. We realised that many businesses saw accountants as a necessary (expensive) requirement but were reluctant to call them for business advice due to anticipated large bills. We work hard to provide more than the services expected from a Chartered Accountants by using a transparent fixed pricing scheme which encourages our customers to use us as a business sounding board.
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