2019 review of the year - and what a year this has been

We've been looking back over 2019 - primarily for the purpose of a team presentation at our annual Christmas party.  But it's only when pulling together all the facts and figures, and looking back through all the social media channels and blogs (all 141 of them in the last year), that you realise just what a busy year it has been. 

Seminars and events

• February saw us jointly host a Brexit Question Time event in Chesterfield, where a panel of local Business leaders, Economists, and former MP's faced questions from the local business community over Brexit expectations.  This hugely popular event attracted over 130 delegates.   
  
  
• The early months of the year saw us holding a record number of workshops and intimate seminars to raise awareness on the introduction of Making Tax Digital, what this would mean for local businesses and the opportunities that could be gained from this initiative.   Many of these events were held in conjunction with our close association with local Chambers of Commerce and each event was extremely well attended. 
  
  
• In November, six members of our Genus team attended XeroCon in London.  This annual three day event provides the opportunity to learn more about what's new and upcoming in the world of online technology. 

Business Awards

• In March, it was announced that Shorts were Finalists in three categories of the Yorkshire accountancy Awards; Mid-Tier Firm of the year, Corporate Finance team of the year and Advisory team of the year. 
  
  
• Later that month, we received further exciting news, that we were also Finalists in the highly contested, national Tolley's Taxation Awards for the category of Best Private Client Tax Practice.
  
  
•  In June, we were nominated in four categories of the Insider Dealmakers Awards, recognising the successes of our Corporate Finance team in the categories of Corporate Finance Advisory Firm of the year, two nominations for the title of Emerging Dealmaker of the year and Deal of the year up to £2.5 million.
  
  
• In October, Shorts were confirmed Finalists for Excellence in Professional Services category of the Derbyshire Business Awards 2019.
  
  
• We were confirmed winners of the Sheffield Business Awards Excellence in Professional Services Award in early December.
  
  
• Overall, in 2019, we were finalists in a total of 10 local and national business awards.
  
  
  

Charity events

•  In February, we signed up to take part in the 2019 Master Cutler's Challenge and attended the opening event at Sheffield Cutler's Hall. A small committee was formed to co-ordinate a variety of charity fundraising activities over the course of the summer, including;
  • Cake sales
  • Dress down days
  • A dress up day
  • 13 mile sponsored walk from Rotherham Hospice to St Luke's hospice in Sheffield
  • Sponge a partner in the stocks
  • Last man standing competitions
  • Game of Thrones sweepstake
    
    
    
• We raised almost £5k for the Master Cutler's Challenge over the course of the challenge, and in total, with other charity events over 2019 raised in excess of £8k for local charities.
  
  

Team Celebrations

• During 2019, two of our team celebrated significant anniversaries, as Andrew Heelin completed 45 years at Shorts, and Anita Purslove celebrated her 30th year at the firm.
  
  
• We welcomed a total of 15 new members to the team, whilst also saying farewell to others who left to set up their own ventures, move out of the region or return to university following their placement years at Shorts.
  
  
• Two of our students were 2019 prize winners in their Professional examinations. 
  
  

Working partnerships and alliances

• In September our partnership with Sheffield Digital was confirmed and in December we renewed our patronage with Sheffield Chamber of Commerce into the fourth year.
  
  
• In October, two of the Partners attended the Praxity Global Conference in Athens.  Andy Ryder chaired the meeting of the international Mergers & Acquisitions steering committee, where a key agenda item was how to further improve collaboration on international transactions.
  
  
• Scott Burkinshaw also attended the Praxity North American tax conference in Phoenix, Arizona.  The conference ran over a few days, with North American tax reforms and international trade high on the agenda.
  
  

Other Successes in 2019

• In January,  billboards and bus stops around the Sheffield area featured Shorts and one of our Clients, Moss Valley Fine Meats who had won the 'Xero behind your business' campaign.  This competition recognised businesses and their advisers who had embraced technology to allow their business grow and succeed, and the advisers who had helped them through this journey. 
  
  
• Our Radius team celebrated continued growth in 2019, saving clients in excess of £3.1m with R&D Tax Relief claims.
  
  
• Our Corporate Finance team saw a 30% increase in the number of completed deals in 2019 compared to 2018.

So, as 2019 draws to a close, now is a perfect time to reflect on the year and to look ahead into next year.  2020 will be the 130th anniversary for Shorts, so there is sure to be plenty going on in the year to come.  But for now, we wish everyone a peaceful, happy and restful holiday season whilst we prepare for everything that 2020 might bring.

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