Ascentant Accountancy is celebrating its 6 year anniversary. That’s right on the 30th of June 2016 a new business was born. And it was born in a caravan.
Allow us to tell you the story so far. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we will begin, at the beginning
Kevin Drew had spent several years in London working with a range of law firms in the finance department. The pull home (that’s the East Midlands) came when his parents called about a family emergency. Sitting in a caravan on his parent’s drive Kevin alighted on the idea of building a business with the learnings from London and his high service ethics.
And so Ascentant was born.
The first client was serviced from the caravan. With paperwork delivered to the doorstep and a mobile phone used to talk to the client on a daily basis.
Offering Outsourced Legal Cashiering was the core offering and continues to be the niche in which we operate as an accountant today.
The caravan was nice but Kevin had a vision and he couldn’t put it into action in that space. So he moved into a serviced office in his hometown of Derby and employed an apprentice so he could pass on his skills and expertise to a person eager to learn more than just standard accounting principles.
More clients came as Kevin embraced the business must do of marketing. Marketing his virtual services that were bespoke to the law firm. That differentiated the business from other offerings which were more standardised processes. Kevin could see this space and moved into it.
Kevin also started working closely with industry bodies like the ILFM to ensure he could meet and talk to the best outsourced law firm partners in the country. Indeed he met many people who looked at his business and wanted to support his vision.
More clients came, a new office was needed (that bigger boat scenario) and the ability to employee real specialists into his business. Senior Legal Cashiers who’d worked in conveyancing and understood the pressures that come with it. Senior Legal Cashiers who were Legal Aid specialists and could support practices with the processes and accuracy essential. All the while making sure our processes, systems and practices met the strict SRA Accounting Rules that law firms MUST meet with their finance department.
Clients ranging in size and specialisms landed within the business, some clients use all of our services and we operate as a complete outsourced finance team completing the daily legal cashiering, VAT returns, payroll, tax submissions and monthly management accounts that are essential for operating their law firm.
It’s with pride that Kevin looks around at the office and the remote employees that form the business today.
He says “Firstly thank you to everyone, past and present, employees and clients (suppliers too) who have supported me in building Ascentant into what it is today. Making it to 6 years is no mean feat with 60% of businesses fail within the first 5 years. I am very proud of where we are today and look forward to seeing what we can achieve together as a team in the next 6 years.”
So today we’ll celebrate with a lunch fit for a legal cashiering team and a nod to the future aspirations the business has now that there’s a team of 7 working solely on our legal sector clients. What an achievement.
And tomorrow we’ll share some of the secrets of success from an accountant’s perspective that every business needs to know to ensure their longevity.
Thank you to everyone who has placed their trust in Ascentant, be that client, collaborator, supplier or employee. You make us what we are and for that we are grateful. Here’s to another 6 years of enjoying our work and making everything compliant!
Ascentant Accountancy are Accountant’s based in Derby who specialise in working with Small Businesses across the Country – Get in touch on 01332 981920 or info@ascentant.co.uk to discuss your needs.
We can be found at Suite 5 Keynes House, Alfreton Road, Derby, DE21 4AS.
