Profile: Steve Harcourt the lonely accountant in the room to see what he needed to do if he was to follow in his grandad’s footsteps. “He was all on his own, nobody else wanted to chat to him!” said Steve. “I asked him how you become an accountant and he told me there were two routes – to go straight into it from A-Levels or go to university and that would mean you could skip some of the accountancy training when you started.” Steve took the university route, studying Geography and Environmental Science at Middlesex which included several field trips overseas but, when he left three years later, he hadn’t settled on his chosen career – until his parents gave him some unsubtle advice. “After university, I came back to Bedworth and I told my parents I still didn’t know what I wanted to do and they told me I needed to get a job,” he said. “I went along to an agency and they had a role at National Grid, when they had offices in Coventry, in the accounts team. “I worked there for about six months but I realised that this wasn’t the path my grandad had took in his career. It was a large corporate business and it was just processing information. It wasn’t getting to know businesses or getting to know people. “I looked for a role in a practice and got an interview at a firm called Chaplin Hall & Co who were based in Coventry. They were looking for a trainee. I got the job and started my ACCA training with them. Three years later, I qualified and I stayed with them for ten years. “I got to the position of manager with the firm and because it was a small firm, there was no clear progression for me from there.” Just as he began to look for a new opportunity, he was told by a friend – a previous colleague at Chaplin Hall & Co – that Prime was on the hunt for a new manager in Solihull. He applied and got the job. That was in 2007 and his own progression has directly correlated with the company’s expansion.
A Prime time for regional accountant It’s fair to say that most teenagers don’t dream of being an accountant. Even in Steve Harcourt’s case, it would be a stretch to suggest that he had his heart set on the profession from an early age. In fact, like most youngsters he headed to college and then university without really knowing where it might lead in terms of a career path. But there was always a pull towards accountancy and, thanks to his grandfather, Steve saw beyond the idea of it being a daily number crunching exercise and more of a people business. Something else drew him towards the sector too. “My grandad was an accountant in Norfolk and ran a practice with a few other partners,” said Steve, who is a director and shareholder at Prime Accountants Group, which has offices in Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham.
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“He used to tell me how he liked looking after people’s businesses and took great pride in helping them. He’d say to me that if you could help them save money on tax, they’d always appreciate that. “He ran the business and being your own boss sounded really good to me as a teenager at the time. He played a lot of golf too and went out for a lot of meals so it sounded like quite a nice life – of course it’s not quite as easy as that when you do it!”
Since then, Prime Accountants Group has grown from around 40 staff to having more than 100 across three offices. Some of that growth has been organic but also through acquisition – including buying Steve’s previous employer. In 2017, he became a director of the company and then, more recently, became a shareholder within the business. It’s a rise that he has enjoyed but says it is not without complication. “Initially, it’s quite strange because you have an affinity with the team you work with and enjoy working with them but as my career has progressed, there are sometimes difficult decisions to be made when you are running a business,” said Steve. “It takes time to square that off. It’s been four years since I became a director and, even after becoming a shareholder, my attitude has changed even further. “To make the business work and grow you have to make those tough decisions because, ultimately, they are made to help everyone and develop the business. “It will probably be a different experience in whatever firm you work at. We are a progressive company and are at the forefront of many technological advances within the sector. We promote ourselves and develop people but it takes time to do that. This is all part of our long-term strategic plan.” And the company fits his and his grandad’s ethos of being more than just another supplier to a client. Steve said: “We like to help all businesses – we’ve got clients from small, sole traders to large multi-national businesses.
Steve grew up in Bedworth, attended George Eliot School in Nuneaton and then King Edward VI College (KEGS) for his A-Levels.
“For me, it’s all about building relationships with clients. We want our clients to be successful and be an active part of their progress. We are always approachable, friendly and, of course, offer great advice to our clients.
He remembers attending a careers event at college, still unsure of what path to take but decided to chat to
“Ultimately, we want to help businesses to create wealth, which benefits them, us and the wider society.
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