Our latest Spotlight is on TC Group, BOKS International’s founders and Accountancy Age ‘Top 25’ firm of business advisors and accountants, providing quality financial advice and strategy, enabling clients to achieve their business growth goals, safeguard wealth, and maximise tax efficiency. TC Group’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Gerald Bishop and Associate Partner, Andrew Perrett, answer our questions.

In your opinion, what is the future for your profession?
We live in an era of incredible change inside and outside the accounting profession. If the future is built by technology and shaped by people’s values, then as accountants, we are well placed to take advantage of the coming changes – provided we can identify, adapt and capitalise on the opportunities quickly enough! The new technologies in automation, big data, and artificial intelligence will become more sophisticated and mainstream, further eroding the value of the traditional compliance services of accountants. The phenomenal development in communications and social media and the need for businesses to have a wider social responsibility will impact the demand for tax and other planning services. However, an accountant’s value was never in the compliance services or the short-term planning services anyway – Our value has always been in the trusted relationship we build with our clients and the strategic expert advice that only we can provide from our broad and comprehensive business knowledge. It’s this combination of expertise from a trusted source business advisory service which is the accountants’ real value going forward – That’s why we’re excited about the future at TC Group, as we believe, as a firm, we are very well placed to grow this business advisory service, with our clients and staff, whilst embracing the new technology to deliver the compliance services.

What is your growth strategy?
TC Group has grown rapidly over recent years. Our growth strategy involves strategic acquisitions. The UK accountancy market has many firms with succession planning issues, for which we have developed an accountancy practice acquisition solution. This solution also complements our organic growth strategy through cross-selling and direct marketing.

Where do you see your firm 5 years from now?
We aim to grow the firm through strategic acquisitions and expect its size to reach 200 million within the next few years.

What is your biggest challenge?
Staff recruitment has always been our biggest challenge. Because of our strong growth, we are always creating opportunities for our staff to grow their own skills and prospects within the firm, so our staff retention has historically been very good (“touch wood” – an old English expression!). TC Group is full of highly driven staff who have risen through the ranks to partner or manager, having started their careers at the firm. However, we have grown faster than we have been able to develop our own staff in some areas and hence the need for external staff recruitment – It’s competitive and challenging to recruit talented like-minded people who fit with our firms culture and ambition.

What percentage of your work is international?
The world is becoming increasingly inter-connected, and in the UK (especially since Brexit), clients are looking outwards far more than ever before. Although only 10% of our firm’s fees are directly related to international clients, our UK client base is predominantly entrepreneurial owner-managed businesses who are increasingly raising concerns with an international aspect or need an international solution. Hence the importance for us to be able to access quality local advice from around the world for us to be able to provide our clients with the expert business advisory service we are striving for.

What business advisory services do you offer?

  • Corporate Finance/Succession Planning
  • HR Advisory
  • Legal Advisory
  • Property Advisory
  • Strategic Business Advisory
  • Tax Advisory
  • VAT Advisory
  • Cloud Systems Advisory

What was your main driver for being part of BOKS International?
Being able to quickly access quality international knowledge and expertise to provide solutions to our clients is a key requirement for TC Group, hence the need for the firm to be part of an international alliance/network. But we were wary of previous experiences of international alliances/networks, and so we wanted more than just having an international label – we wanted to be part of an international alliance that shared our own values, one that was dynamic, ambitious and focused on providing excellent client service. Hence, we formed BOKS International.

Where do you see BOKS International 5 years from now?
We’re very excited about BOKS International’s future. Despite being a fairly young alliance, the vision of connecting full-service accountancy, tax, and assurance practices with corporate advisory legal firms around the world and targeting the ambitious entrepreneurial SME market seems to have huge potential. In five years, we would like to see BOKS International break into the top 10 alliances in the world.

How would you describe your typical client?
Ambitious owner-managed businesses are those that TC Group is best placed to advise. The majority of our clients are SMEs who value our no-nonsense approach combined with expert technical advice and competitive pricing. Aside from that, there is no atypical client. The TC Group portfolio of clients covers a wide range of sectors and industries without any significant concentration in any one area—all our clients are considered unique to us!

How do you target clients who are looking for international services?
Through our direct marketing methodologies, we actively target clients with an international aspect to their business, whether through import/export activities or their group structure. However, we find that most of our UK clients, because of their ambition and entrepreneurial nature, will often raise queries or embark on strategies that require some form of international advice.

Do you specialise in a particular sector or service?
We specialise in many different sectors and 15+ service lines, although there are some areas we do not currently provide services to, e.g., the Banking and Government sectors. Our clients are typically entrepreneurial SME owner-managed businesses seeking a full-service accountancy, tax, and assurance firm to provide them with expert strategic advice for their business.