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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.

“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!”

Steve grew up in Bedworth, attended George Eliot School in Nuneaton and then King Edward VI College (KEGS) for his A-Levels.

He remembers attending a careers event at college, still unsure of what path to take but decided to chat to 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.

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.

“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.

“Ultimately, we want to help businesses to create wealth, which benefits them, us and the wider society.

“We focus on providing a tailored solution for our clients, which not only meets their accounting needs, but exceeds their expectations and in turn makes their lives easier. We want to use our services to help our clients run their business more efficiently, so they have more time to spend running their business, and not dealing with day-to-day accounting tasks.

“We continuously aim to progress our business and have brought in a number of in-house experts to provide a more streamlined service, such as experts in VAT, corporate tax and private client tax. All of these join our team which already benefits from having its own wealth team, which allows our clients to gain advice from our financial advisor, plan ahead and achieve their own financial aims, not just business goals.

“We try to take a personal approach to the way we treat our clients and have a family atmosphere within our team. We take part in lots of staff and charity events that we organise, which brings our teams together.”

Lockdown tested every business’s capability of servicing clients in a personal way and in keeping a team culture among staff, with everyone working remotely.

But through constant communication with the team, the Prime staff were given clear direction and, from a business point of view, it soon became clear that the company was going to be even more important in supporting clients through the unprecedented economic times.

“Lockdown was a massive shock to everybody,” he said. “I don’t think many of us thought it would last this long but, even now – 18 months on – we’re still feeling the effects of it.

“As a board of directors, we made the decision that there were three priorities – we had to look after the business, look after the staff and look after the clients. Everything we did, whatever planning we undertook, whatever changes we had to make, we had to bear those three factors in mind.

“Quickly, Government help such as the furlough scheme and CBILs were introduced and we had to support clients with that. Cashflow was a massive headache for businesses so we were there to help with that. It was a large task but one that our clients hugely appreciated our ongoing support with.”

More than most, Steve has his finger on the economic pulse and that will ultimately bring benefits to clients too. He is on the Chamber Board of Directors, the company is a Business Influence member and also sponsors the regional Quarterly Economic Survey.

“The QES is always a very interesting read and gives a vital insight into the local economy which is of great interest to local business leaders,” he said. “The great thing is that information feeds straight into local government and back into Westminster to bring about policy change.

“It’s going to be tough for the next 12 months – whether it’s recovery from Brexit or the pandemic. There will be challenges for businesses relating to employment, training and cashflow.

“If we can work through the difficulties that are surfacing and get to this time next year in a positive position, then the economy can start to rebound.

“The QES was predicting that we might be back at pre-pandemic levels around now – positive steps are being taken and things are slowly returning to normal, however there are still some barriers for certain sectors of the economy. Issues such as recruitment and the movement of goods, for example.

“The majority of clients have come through the darker times and are now looking ahead positively to the next 12 months, albeit with some caution after lessons learnt in the past 18 months.”

But the ultimate question is whether being a director of Prime Accountants Group has afforded Steve some of the perks his grandad told him about as a teenager?

“I do play a bit of golf and I do a lot of cycling,” he said. “I am a big fan of Coventry City and I get there as much as I can – it’s great that they are back in the city and winning a few matches!

“But ferrying my kids around is probably one of my biggest pastimes! I take my daughter dancing most days of the week and then to shows at the weekend.

“Oh, and then there’s Dougie the dog – a little spaniel – who is nearly one. He was a lockdown puppy and walking him seems to take up the rest of my spare time!”

“As a board of directors, we made the decision that there were three priorities – we had to look after the business, look after the staff and look after the clients."

About Steve Harcourt:

Born:

George Eliot Hospital, Nuneaton Live: Nuneaton Married/Partner: Married to Claire Children: Alex, 17 and Isobel, 13 Hobbies: Golf, Cycling and watching live sport Favourite Book: The Last Kingdom series of books by Bernard Cornwell Favourite Film: The Empire Strikes Back Last Holiday: Loch Lomond - Scotland Gadget: Would be lost without my iPhone