This year, the partners at Shorts are celebrating 125 years.
Built on Heritage
The Shorts of today may seem very different from the days of founder, Samuel Edward Short who established his business in 1890 trading as Samuel Edward Short & Co in Glumangate, Chesterfield; yet throughout history the firm has maintained its’ core values of honesty and integrity.
Samuel Short himself was an extremely influential and respected businessman within the Chesterfield community. He was appointed Mayor of Chesterfield in 1908 and passed away in 1914 at the age of 45. His legacy lives on and Shorts has become one of the largest independent accountancy practices in the North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire region.
In 1956, the firm divided into two separate concerns, one as estate agents and insurance brokers and the other the audit and accountants practice which evolved into Shorts as we know it today. The firm relocated to Fairfield Road in 1974, and as the business continued to grow, further expanded on Fairfield Road.
In 1998 Shorts Financial Services was established, providing independent financial advice to local businesses and individuals at the newly purchased Ashgate Road premises. In 2011 Shorts Financial Services attained the industry’s gold standard of Chartered Financial Planners (one of a small minority of firms in the country to achieve this status) reflecting the high quality advice being provided to clients. In 2012 the Fairfield Road offices closed and all Chesterfield staff relocated under one roof in prestigious new premises following the complete redevelopment of the Ashgate Road premises.
2002 saw Shorts increasing its’ presence in South Yorkshire, opening offices on Ecclesall Road, Sheffield. Sustained growth and recruitment resulted in the Sheffield office relocating in November 2014, when in excess of 20 staff and 2 resident partners moved into newly refurbished and substantially larger premises on Napier Street.
Over the years, Shorts has attracted an impressive blend of individuals with both professional qualifications and experience. Many of the staff have been with the firm for a significant number years, with several serving in excess of 30 and even 40 years in some cases.
Strengthened by excellence
We take pride in our modern and innovative approach, bringing fresh ideas to clients’ requirements. At partner and manager level the firm employs individuals with significant experience, many of whom have worked at high levels within national and international accounting firms. The result, is a breadth of service consistent with the larger national firms.
Shorts is particularly proud to employ more chartered tax advisers than any other independent accountancy firm in the region. The strength and depth of our tax department joins seamlessly with independent investment and pension advice from our Chartered Financial Planners, providing comprehensive wealth management and Private Client advice.
We have a forward thinking approach to our clients accounting requirements, being instrumental in the development of MonitorPRO, an exclusive reporting pack, enabling business owners to monitor key trends in business performance, easily focus on their ever-critical cash flow position and enable better informed key business decisions. MonitorPRO sits alongside Xero cloud based accounting, for which Shorts were the region’s first gold accredited Xero partner.
We regularly jointly host and organise key business seminars, are proud Chesterfield Champions and keen contributors to the local business community, achieving recent recognition at both the Derbyshire Times and Sheffield Star business awards.
Confidence in the future
Paul Beeson comments “I feel honoured to be Senior Partner during such exciting times for Shorts, and to lead the celebration of our 125th anniversary. I truly believe that Shorts sets itself apart by being more than simply an accountancy firm, with our innovative approach to management information, the seamless integration with Private Client services, and our Corporate Finance offering. We help ambitious business owners and individuals to achieve their business and personal objectives in the most tax efficient manner.”
“Recent years have seen the firm grow significantly, and we have responded to this with the redevelopment of our Chesterfield office, the opening of a prestigious new office in Sheffield and the appointment of many high calibre professionals. Our foundations in the past, the investment in the present and the people that we employ place Shorts in a confident position to commence the next chapter of our history and we look forward to supporting local businesses for many years to come “
Celebrating 125 years L-R;
Front - Andy Irvine, Paul Beeson and Malcolm Pope
Back - Howard Freeman, Andy Ryder, Andrew Grant and Simon Hollin
Andy Irvine
Andy looks after many of our larger corporate clients for whom he closely monitors their accounting and taxation requirements. Drawing on extensive experience gained from working for a ‘Big 4’ firm, Andy is ideally placed to manage and supervise larger assignments. As a Chartered Tax Adviser he actively identifies tax planning opportunities for clients and has considerable experience in leading due diligence assignments. As a member of the Association of Independent Medical Accountants (AISMA), Andy is well qualified to deal with the accounting, finance, taxation, practice management and pension issues affecting doctors today.
View my articlesTags: Seminars and Events, Team News
