Porter Garland

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Porter Garland's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Porter Garland is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

28 | PORTER GARLAND

Director Amanda Williams

Porter Garland is a firm of chartered accountants based

in Camberley, Surrey, who pride themselves on being

the local chartered accountants of choice, serving

Camberley, Frimley, Farnborough, Aldershot, Farnham, Fleet

and the surrounding area. It was formed over 50 years ago,

and the current custodians of the business, Directors Amanda

Williams FCA and Thomas Pottinger FCA, are passionate

about its continuing success and ensuring the legacy can be

passed on in the future. They both believe that longevity in

client relationships is key to “Nurturing Client Growth” (their

slogan).Porter Garland’s mission is to work in close partnership

with clients, providing proactive,forward-thinking advice on

accounting, taxation and finance matters to individuals and to

the owners of small and medium-sized businesses. Expanding

upon these and other topics, Amanda and Thomas write

thefollowing.

We are passionate about our people and our clients. Once they are with us, they

usually stay for a long time. This is important to us, as we believe it is at the very

heart of the outstanding service that we deliver year after year.As an owner-

managed business, just like our clients, Porter Garland provides a hands-on service

from a team of accounting professionals.

Key to the ongoing success of our business is not only “Nurturing Client Growth”

but also nurturing our own company growth, as well as that of our staff.Each year,

Porter Garland achieves financial growth, with 2018 being a record year for us both

in financial terms and in terms of team expansion, achieving increases of nearly 20

per cent in income and 30 per cent in net profit.

Nurturing company growth

It is vital to be forward-thinking and proactive to generate new business, and not

to rely only on organic growth.Five years ago, Porter Garland had just a website,

which in effect acted as an online company brochure.At this point, we realised

we needed to invest in marketing rather than relying solely on reputation, word of

mouth and repeat business.

Therefore, Susy Brooks joined the firm on a part-time basis. Susy was a marketing

consultant with over 20 years’ experience in PR and marketing, and was previously

the operations director for a distinguished high-tech PR firm in Farnham. She

became responsible for refreshing the brand with a new logo and website and

focusing on building the firm’s online presence.Now, with a successful SEO

AT A GLANCE

PORTER GARLAND

»Co-directors: Amanda Williams

and Thomas Pottinger

»Established in 1964

»Based in Camberley, Surrey

»Services: Accountancy

»No. of employees: 12

»www.portergarland.co.uk

Porter Garland

29PORTER GARLAND |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

campaign and a top ranking on

Google, most of Porter Garland’s

new clients come from online search,

social media, networking and direct

marketing, and because of this we

have taken on 175 new clients in the

past two years.

Nurturing young talent

Also important to us is our team.

The majority of our staff members

have been with the firm for at least

ten years, and we are delighted

to have recently embarked on a

programme to bring on young,

enthusiastic talent via trainee and

apprenticeshipprogrammes. 

Our most recent recruit, Lucy Rogers,

joined the firm as an AAT apprentice in

September 2017 and, with nurturing

and support, has gone from strength

to strength. With the rising costs of

going to university, apprenticeships

offer a debt-free, direct route into

employment as well as a fast track

toqualifying.

With her apprenticeship, Lucy was

able to start earning straight away,

while getting the same benefits as an

employee, a holiday allowance and

an early start to pension provision.

Lucy’s apprenticeship has already

moved on from a one-year course to

a three-to-four-year apprenticeship

programme. At the end of this, she

will qualify as a chartered accountant

with a well-rounded set of skills and

experience, making her a highly

desirableemployee.

Nurturing community relations

As a small business looking to re-build

a brand in the local community, we

also feel it is important to support

local businesses, groups and charitable

organisations. We do this in a number

of ways, including sponsoring the

Camberley cricket and rugby clubs,

holding Macmillan coffee mornings,

exhibiting and networking at local

business exhibitions, offering support

at the Citizens Advice Bureau and

sponsoring charity events. For example,

in October we sponsored a local

“Charity Fun Run” and also took

part in it, wearing the Porter Garland

t-shirts.

Nurturing client growth

Ensuring client growth is key to the

success of our business. Several of

our clients put their success down to

the support that we provide, and in

this respect, Mark Bartlett of Signbox

Limited said the following about us:

“ Porter Garland has provided

Signbox with a broad range of

accountancy services for nearly

30 years. From our payroll to

full accounts and tax planning,

their service is first class, and

from the early days, they

instilled a financial discipline

to sustain growth, even

throughrecession.

Making Tax Digital and online

technology

Another step we felt was necessary

for the future support of our clients

was to ensure we had Sage One

and QuickBooks Online capability,

and to this end we put the entire

team through a training session last

Spring.It is vital that we get in early

to help our clients prepare for MTD

(Making Tax Digital), which is due to

go live for all VAT-registered businesses

in April 2019, with the minimum

disruption to their busy working lives.

By adhering to the approaches

mentioned in this article, we believe

good things lie in store for Porter

Garland. Integral to this success will be

a continued commitment to keeping

up with the digital times.

Director Thomas Pottinger

The majority

of our staff

members have

been with the

firm for at

least ten years

“

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from the prime minister.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister