If you're looking for speed of response and advisers willing to get to know your business so that answers are tailored to you, then make the change. Because otherwise you're just a little fish in a big pond with everybody else.
Phil Box, Group Financial Director - Cepac
Case Study summary
Phil Box, Group Financial Director at Cepac, chats with Andy Irvine, Audit Partner and Matty Lewis, Audit and Accounts Senior Manager; comparing the experience of working with Shorts to that of working with larger international accounting firms. Phil cites issues like feeling lost in the number-crunching process, long communication chains, and a lack of responsiveness from larger firms. He emphasised the importance of having direct access to decision-makers and the value of long-term relationships. Phil goes on to appreciate the integrity, honesty, and risk-averse approach of Shorts, contrasting it with the bureaucracy and lack of personalised service that can be experienced when dealing with the larger firms.
Read the full conversation below
What were the main factors that prompted you to look to change advisers?
Accessing the knowledge and skill that you need from the big firms, you probably have to go through 3 or 4 layers before you actually get the person you need to speak to.
Although we were a big fish, we felt lost in the number crunching. When you’re up against £multi-billion turnover companies, your voice isn’t heard quite as loudly. But not only that, when you actually want to speak to people, to get a decision or get information, accessing the knowledge and skill that you need from the big firms, you probably have to go through three or four layers before you actually get to the person you need to speak to. Which just adds unnecessarily cost and time – a real frustration.
So we were looking to make sure that in our advisers, we still retained the knowledge, the professionalism, but matched that with responsiveness and a much shorter chain of communication. So that we get where we need to be quickly, and get there responsively, and at the same time adding value. Because with the big firms, the opportunities you’re getting to realise value in your business, probably diminish somewhat, and it becomes more of a tick box exercise.
When I first met with Shorts, I made a big thing about asking you what value can you give to our business. And that’s because I want it to be more than just a tick box exercise. I think that’s what you often get from the larger advisers.
How does your experience of working with our team compare?
Larger firms wouldn’t look at that – they just complete a process, ticking the box.
What I was after was the same knowledge, skill and professionalism as the larger advisory firms, but then the knowledge that we’ve got people with with more advanced skill and knowledge than we have (at Cepac) in particular areas, that we could then leverage into this business. We don’t need Big4 people.
The Capital Allowance issue is an absolute perfect example, we’d been following those rules by the letter of the law for two or three years before working with Shorts. And then Shorts tax team takes a look at it, and all of a sudden we’ve got a significant benefit on the tax side. So that’s a really good example, because larger firms wouldn’t look at that – they just complete a process, ticking the box and then “see you again in October.”
Was there consistency in your team with previous advisers?
The key thing for me; being able to always speak to the same people, to have that rapport
The churn in the teams is really annoying, because you’re just at the point where you think you’re developing a relationship and then that person gets moved on to another assignment, and you don’t see them again unless they appear again in another five or six years, when they’re on the next step of the ladder and they’re back in your area. Yes, that’s the key thing for me; being able to and always speaking to the same people, to have that rapport. And know that it’s going to add value.
I can think of an issue. I can ring you guys (at Shorts) up and the same day, within an hour, you’ll timetable to have a look at it for me. With a large firm, I probably have to go through three or four different people before I get there. I might have to get an answer in a week’s time in terms of who’s looking after it. But I know with you guys, I can just pick the phone up and say “I’ve thought about this, do you know anything about this?” And if you don’t have the answer straight away, you’ll go away and look at it.
Relationships are important, particularly with professional advisers -would you agree?
It’s that honesty, the integrity, the approach that I like.
You want people that you know you can work with and we’ve got that with Shorts. If I come up with something for your tax team, for instance, and they don’t know the answer, I know they’ll go away and look at it. And I’ve got no problems with that. I know they’ll go away, they’ll find out, and we will get an answer.
I don’t like the half an hour conversation and not getting to an answer at the end of it, trying to convince me they know exactly what they’re talking about.
We’ve talked to David Robinson about certain tax planning options, for instance, and the tax team said it wasn’t worth doing. So we didn’t waste any time or effort. We like that honesty, because you could have just said, Yes, let’s do it, generate a fee, and we’d have been none the wiser. So, yes, that kind of approach is what we want. For Shorts to say “It’s worthwhile doing this. It’s not worth your while doing that.”
How important is our Partner / Director led service?
It’s customer facing where it matters. And that means a lot to a business our size, because we want to be able to tune in to that skill and that knowledge, but what we don’t want to do, is you have to go through a process, where you can talk to half a dozen people before you get to an answer. They’ve never met you before. And you guys have been really responsive whenever we’ve asked anything. So that’s good. That’s why we keep coming back.
Three words to describe Shorts?
Responsiveness / Integrity / Customer facing
Do you have any advice for similar sized firms when switching advisors?
If you’re looking for speed of response and advisers willing to get to know your business so that answers are tailored to what you need, then make the change. Because otherwise you’re just a little fish in a big pond with everybody else.
About Cepac
Only Cepac has the resource and capability for every type of corrugated packaging solution – on market and on brand.
Cepac are the UK’s leading corrugated packaging company. Cepac stands for cost effective packaging solutions. They are agile and collaborative, and their customers always come first. They have the technical capability and resource to supply all corrugated packaging needs from leading edge structural design to high end digital print and finishing.
