It’s all about teamwork as long-standing Derby accountancy firm appoints keen sportsman as new director
Derby firm Shapcotts Accountants has welcomed an experienced professional and seasoned sportsman to the helm after appointing him a director.
Nick Parkes, who joined Shapcotts in the spring of 2016, brings three decades of accountancy knowledge to his role as director of a well-known family firm, that has itself been going for the same amount of time.
Melvin, Kimberley and Nick. Directors at Shapcotts Accountants
Nick is a keen sportsman and a member of Derbyshire County Cricket Club, having played county league cricket for 30 years before eventually putting away his bat in 2015. He has also played county league tennis for ten years and is a season ticket holder at Derby County Football Club, having been going to games there since the mid-80s.
Nick says sport and team work has much to teach us about good accountancy practice: “Each piece of work that we carry out, be it accounts production or a tax return, passes through a specific process involving a particular number of staff who each have their individual role to play.
“The quality of our output depends on how these roles combine into the overall process. One slip will cause further problems down the line. So we give equal attention to each separate role within that process to ensure that the whole is functioning smoothly and efficiently.”
Nick joined Shapcotts as a client manager and is delighted to extend his role to that of director.
He says: “Throughout my career I have mainly carried out a client-facing role, but my aim was to become involved in more depth in the running and development of a firm. Shapcotts were happy to give me the opportunity to do that and match my own ambitions in that area.
“It has been an extremely enjoyable first eight months here. Getting to know my new work colleagues and a portfolio of new clients, as well as becoming familiar with the specific processes of the firm. It has certainly been a breath of fresh air.”
Nick was educated at Derby’s Lees Brook School which he left in 1986 to start work as a trainee accountant and has since built up a wealth of experience. As far as the future goes for Shapcotts, he says he intends to use his experience to “contribute in any way that I can”.
“Shapcotts has built up a considerable amount of experience and expertise over the years which is made available to a wide variety of clients. We are able to cover all aspects of accountancy and taxation to businesses of varying size and complexity. We also have a large network of business partners who we can recommend to complement the work that we are carrying out.
Welcoming Nick to Shapcotts, managing director Melvin Shapcott said: “We are thrilled to bring in such a vastly experienced practitioner. Nick’s expertise and client relationship skills will be invaluable to us and we are sure this move will mean that our reputation for excellence, service and comprehensive knowledge will continue to grow.”
With the UK facing an uncertain times as it prepares to leave the EU, Nick feels that small businesses need to be particularly wary of possible financial upsets to come, saying: “The economy appears to be remaining relatively stable at the moment although it certainly isn’t flourishing.
“Exchange rates have been detrimental to the country. The large firms are very astute and will have put plans together to protect themselves to a certain extent with such devices as forward exchange contracts.
“However, these are not long term and at some point the companies will have to decide if they are to pass on this extra cost to the customer or absorb it themselves. Business with low profit margins will need to be particularly aware. There could be some quite sudden and dramatic increases in the cost of consumer goods, food and basic materials.”
January 11th, 2017
