The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 46: Dec/Jan 2019 | Page 44

MEET MILSTED LANGDON’S IAN LLOYD & DAN KENYON Ian Lloyd Dan Kenyon General Practice Partner Ian Lloyd and Manager Dan Kenyon are both based at the Bath office of independent chartered accountants Milsted Langdon (ML). The Bath team work across the city and Wiltshire helping business go for growth. We met them both to find out more about their successes of 2019, plans for 2020 and get the low down on their office ethos. What’s been your highlight of 2019? Ian: Moving to a larger office at the splendid 4 Queen Street, Bath to accommodate our growth over the last 12 months. Dan: Our new office provides us with a modern and open workspace which has allowed us to grow the team and host our colleagues from specialist teams including Insolvency, Forensic Accounting and Corporate Finance. What’s been your biggest success for a client this year? Ian: In March one of our clients sold their business to a larger group for circa £5m. This client transferred their total affairs to ML three years ago. With our full support across a few of the ML specialisms, we have nurtured their objectives. Dan: A stand-out matter recently involved helping a client grow from £5million to £9million turnover. We helped them expand into bigger premises, find new sources of finance and were able to package up a seamless solution alongside our more typical accountancy and tax services. Do you have any office camaraderie you can share with us? Ian: The ML team we have created are positive and recruited on this basis. No energy vampires here! My approach is that we all work hard, look after each other, play hard and keep smiling. @MilstedLangdon 01225 904940 [email protected] Dan: We are a very sociable team and we get on famously. Where sport or inter-office competitions are concerned, we can be very competitive with our colleagues in our other offices in Bristol, Taunton and Yeovil. On the other hand, if we need an extra player for a football or netball team we can count on them to help out and get involved. What do you like most about working with each other? Dan: I have a lot of respect for Ian. He is an excellent mentor and friend and a fantastic partner to work with – he truly has a wealth of experience that the whole team can learn from. As well as the technical accountancy and compliance side of things, he’s also an experienced business strategy and improvement facilitator, which means we are proactive and advisory in our dealings with clients. We look at the bigger picture and long-term goals – not just the matter in hand. Ian: Dan is like my son. We have that sort of relationship, in and out of work. We regularly communicate out of hours, just to support each other and to plan ahead for the next day. He has given me my youth back and I have given him my years of professional experience. What are you looking forward to in 2020? Ian: Continuing to grow by attracting like-minded staff and clients. Our referral network continues to recommend us to local businesses and charities. Dan: I’ll be looking closely at my leisure and hospitality sector clients and how the food and drink market develops. It’s been a tough time for the mid-tier chain restaurants but it’s not all doom and gloom on the restaurant scene. There are lots of opportunities for our local independents and I look forward to seeing how this develops. INSPIRING EMPLOYEES TO LOVE THEIR WORK By providing all of the right elements that inspire your team to care about your business and their job, you can really create the most amazing results and a wonderful working environment. Emma Summers, Juice Recruitment’s Founder & CEO gives us four top tips on how to inspire employees to love their work. 1. Care about, and share about, your employees first As simple as it sounds, many leaders, aren’t very good at sharing their appreciation. By learning about, practicing and recognising your people, you can truly inspire employees to produce great work. 2. Be crystal clear about what you value It is so important to demonstrate your appreciation for your company values, the unique elements that support your brand to consumers. Corporate values hanging on boardroom walls are sometimes not very inspiring, however unforgettable phrases, can create real power within a business – ‘Create Amazing’ – ‘Be Bold’ – ‘People Not Paper’ – ‘Better An Oops Rather Than A What If’! 44 www.tbeswindonandwilts.co.uk Cheer for effort Appreciation is an acknowledgment of a person’s determination and hard work to achieve great results. When efforts and results are recognised, employees feel increased confidence in their skills, an understanding that they are on track and can create a great relationship with their peers. 3. Encourage your team to make a difference Often, people apply to jobs and organisations where they believe that their skills and experience could make a real difference. By encouraging your team to ask themselves “What difference can I make that someone would love?” will really promote their thinking and effort and could make a profound difference to your business enabling them to be the best version of their unique selves. Your people are your company and by giving your people the reasons to care, they’ll achieve great things and will surpass anything you could have ever imagined! For more info: www.juicerecruitment.com Emma Summers, CEO of Juice Recruitment “When efforts and results are recognised, employees feel increased confidence in their skills” @JuiceRecruit