The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 28: Dec/Jan 2016/17 | Page 13

FINANCE The Milsted Langdon team. From left to right: Peter Groves, Rachel Verinder, Ian Lloyd and Dan Kenyon A YEAR IN REVIEW 2016 has been a busy and successful year for Milsted Langdon accountants. Here we share their highlights. In February, as an Inspire by Wessex partner, they attended a private meeting with Geoff Harding, deputy agent for the South West at the Bank of England. Alongside other local business leaders, they discussed how business was faring in the current economic climate. Information gleaned from meetings like this is used to help the Bank plan interest and inflation rates. Ian Lloyd, partner at Milsted Langdon said: “This was a very fruitful meeting and gave me a tremendous insight into the struggles faced by local companies. Milsted Langdon is proud to be based in the South West and we always want to help businesses in our area, whether they are listed companies, sole traders and practitioners, or start-ups. It’s great for us to be part of discussions like this and at the forefront of what’s happening locally.” At the beginning of June the firm celebrated winning a major taxation practice award. They were announced as winner of the Tolley’s Taxation Awards 2016 in the Best Tax Practice in a Regional Firm category. The award demonstrated Milsted Langdon’s consistently high quality of taxation services and technical strength, as they were just one of five UK accountancy practices shortlisted in the category. In the summer they positioned themselves at the heart of the Brexit debate holding numerous events hosted by their economic consultant, Kevin Butler. Kevin was former head of audit and regional director for the Bank of England. In July Kevin wrote a column exclusively for The Business Exchange entitled ‘Life in a post Brexit world’. He urged all firms to reach out to their stakeholders with the message: “We want to carry on working with you for the long term and will find a way.” 2017 is set to be a full on year for Milsted Langdon too, with a series of property tax seminars being planned alongside Peter Greatorex from The Apartment Company. They will also be extending their programme of charity lunches, working with local law firms, helping local charities, schools and academies take control of their finances as Milsted Langdon specialise in this area. Ian Lloyd, partner said: "Milsted Langdon is always pleased to meet new businesses in the area and work together moving forwards." Milsted Langdon works across the South West helping businesses to grow and thrive alongside them. They have offices in Bath, Bristol, Taunton, Yeovil and London. Visit Milsted Langdon online at: www.milsted-langdon.co.uk Call 01225 904940 or email: [email protected] PAMS can improve your business? FIND OUT FOR FREE ‘Procurement’, ‘purchasing’, ‘buying’, ‘acquisition’, it doesn’t matter what you call it, in its most basic form procurement can universally be described as “a want or need within the company that is met from outside the company by spending company money.” PAMS is a professional, Wiltshire-based service targeted primarily at SMEs and provides quick, easy and affordable access to purchasing advice, support and guidance. The primary objective of PAMS is to save you money. However, PAMS recognises that they will not be right for all types of organisation and therefore the service they offer thoroughly 'pre-qualifies' businesses (free of charge) on their suitability. PAMS really want to make sure that a company will genuinely benefit from their intervention before any formalities are agreed. As a consequence, they have designed PAMS so that the first stage in the process (before there is any form of contract signed) is to undertake a detailed evaluation of an organisations level of purchasing maturity and effectiveness. This initial assessment covers a wide variety of procurement related topics such as: • Analysis of expenditure • Procurement’s profile within the organisation • Procurement structure and delegations of authority • Procurement policy, processes and procedures • Procurement methods and systems • Procurement competences, training and development • Best practice procurement techniques • Strategy, planning, targets and savings • Sourcing, supplier selection and performance improvement • Contract pricing strategy • Negotiation strategy, tools and techniques • Procurement terms and conditions At this point they will make an honest assessment of whether or not the service would be of genuine value to you and advise you accordingly. To evaluate your purchasing effectiveness free of charge call Doug Fellows or Geoff McCatty on 01793 781514 or 01285 840026 for an exploratory chat. THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2016 13