Proud to be Durham
Picture by Rob Walker
A
strong affinity to Durham city
inspired Baldwins to sign up as
gold level corporate partners of
Durham Cathedral.
The firm sponsored both the
cathedral’s tower regeneration project
and stone auction, held to raise funds
to support the ongoing maintenance of
the historic site.
“The cathedral is such an iconic
building, not just for the city but the
entire region,” says Baldwins Durham
partner Lesley Stabler.
“So when we heard they were
looking for businesses to support their
campaign to create a £10m endowment
fund for essential maintenance work,
we were the first to sign up.
“We’ve built a fantastic relationship
with the cathedral and we were
honoured that its dean, The Very
Reverend Andrew Tremlett, blessed our
office at our opening event.”
“Across a wide range of
industries, we are the
champions for SMEs in
North-East,”
As an example, Lesley describes a new
client who came to Baldwins for support
with their back office. From the outset,
Baldwins put a member of their team into
the client’s office one day a week to take over
their book-keeping. The client was moved
onto cloud-based accountancy software Xero
to make them compliant with Making Tax
Digital, while Baldwins now produces the
firm’s management accounts.
“The client then asked us to attend their
board meetings to share our insights and
help them to make informed decisions,”
continues Lesley. “We also provided
additional tax advice, as they were looking to
set up a new business.
“As we built their trust, they asked our
corporate finance team to help explore
possible acquisitions, we explored EMI
(Enterprise Management Incentive) schemes
so they could offer shares to their staff as an
incentive, and we were able to provide expert
advice on an R&D tax claim.
“These additional projects would usually
have to be outsourced to several different
external advisors, but we have all this
specialist knowledge under one roof. This
not only benefits the client, as it guarantees
a joined-up approach with all our advisors
working together in parallel, but also ensures
the client has a single point of contact,
allowing them to focus on running their
business. That’s the real added value.”
David interjects: “Sometimes it isn’t even
accountancy advice our clients call us about.
They may ask about operational issues, cash
flow concerns
or they
might want
to discuss a
particular
product which
isn’t doing so
well. We’re in the perfect position to act as a
sounding board.”
As you may have surmised, the job title of
an accountant doesn’t truly reflect the vast
spectrum of roles Baldwins staff now have
to play - which is why they are motivated
to learn and continually push themselves to
improve, whilst keeping up to date with the
latest changes in tax, reporting standards and
technology developments.
“Technology isn’t just changing our job
function,” says Lesley. “Technology itself is
changing rapidly. So instead of expecting to
use the same tool for the next decade, we are
training our teams to be ready to use new
technology every year. This requires not just
a basic understanding of technology itself,
but the ongoing cultivation of flexibility and
adaptability.”
With HMRC demands meaning Making
Tax Digital is now mandatory for all
VAT-registered companies above the VAT
threshold, Baldwins has diversified to meet
the challenges of cloud accounting.
They now offer a full range of services
through a virtual finance office, including
CoZone, enabling clients to outsource their
finance function via the cloud, allowing
Baldwins to carry out their clients’ daily
financial operations.
Baldwins prides itself on being at the
cutting edge of technology - a key driver in
their decision to open a Durham office.
“Our new hi-tech office not only allows
us to house our team of specialists together
for the first time, fostering collaboration and
upskilling across departments, it has also
given us a platform to improve our service to
clients and grow,” explains David.
With four new staff and seven trainees
recruited since the opening of the Durham
office, Baldwins are raising the bar for the
accountancy industry with their extensive
range of value-added services delivered in
a way that keeps it personal, tailored and
individual.
Baldwins have transformed into business
champions and future thinkers, pivotal
in supporting the growth of their clients’
businesses.
“Across a wide range of industries, we are
the champions for SMEs in North-East,” says
David. And it really is hard to disagree.
For more information visit baldwins.co.uk or call 0191 411 2468 to speak to one of the team.
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