Member Article

Beever and Struthers rebrands and restructures for growth

Accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers has undergone a complete rebrand and internal restructuring.

The firm, with 20 partners and almost 200 staff across offices in Manchester, Blackburn and London has adopted a new brand positioning of “Achieving Better” to define its culture and business philosophy in everything it does for its clients and staff.

The new positioning reflects the ethos, values and increasing stature of Beever and Struthers within the financial and professional services marketplace it serves in both the UK and abroad.

As the sole accountancy and business advisory firm in the North West of England to join HLB International, a renowned worldwide network of independent accounting firms and business advisers, Beever and Struthers is now able to provide clients with international financial advice in more than 100 countries.

It also reinforced and extended its core specialisms in creative sectors including technology, media and telecoms, publishing, public relations and marketing through its merger with specialist accountants The Company Books is sited within London City, Bunhill Row close to Silicone Roundabout.

The firm also provides an additional value-added service to its personal and business clients via B&S Financial Management Ltd (B&S FM), a provider of independent advice on investments and savings, pensions, mortgages and protection, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Partners at Beever and Struthers initiated and drove the top-to-bottom rebranding and repositioning exercise with the firm’s partner agency Origin, based in Cheadle Heath, Cheshire.

Partner, David Hunter headed a rebrand leadership team consisting of fellow partners Andy McLaren, Suzanne Lomax and Charles MacMillan, Head of Marketing Geraldine Finn and HR director Jo Rigby, in the first comprehensive rebrand for 20 years since Beever and Struthers occupied its current head office at St George’s House, Chester Road, Manchester in 1994.

he exercise has resulted in a completely new look for the firm’s corporate signage, brand guidelines and stationery, together with mission and vision statements that better reflect Beever and Struthers philosophy.

The Mission Statement is: “To help our clients achieve more by exceeding expectations, maintaining consistently high standards and believing that better is always achievable.”

The Vision Statement is: “To be recognised as one of the best independent accountancy firms in the UK.”

A Vision Group consisting of managing partner Phil Roberts, senior partner Chris Porritt and group leader and partner, Charles MacMillan, together with fellow partners Caroline Monk, Suzanne Lomax, Rory O’Carroll and Helen Armstrong was formed to review and realign the corporate and social objectives of the practice.

As part of the evaluation, a detailed analysis of the firm’s client base was undertaken, the objective being to assess and define those sectors of the practice that Beever and Struthers personnel had developed over its 117-year history in which experience and specialist knowledge was clearly established.

The sectors specified include social housing, charities, property, manufacturing, professional and legal, innovation, communication and IT, freelancers, wholesale, motor and transport, employment agencies, insurance and financial, education, residential and international.

Teams for each of the sectors are headed by partners with specialist skills and supported by key staff with talents tailored to the needs of clients in their respective categories.

Phil Roberts, managing partner of Beever and Struthers, said: “We are a successful, recently multi-award winning independent firm that has gained new clients at a record breaking rate of more than one a working day, since 2011 – the highest cumulative total since the firm was founded in 1898.

“We are always ambitious for our clients, helping them to succeed and exceeding their expectations in every way and it was time for us to also be ambitious about our branding.”

“The process was “truly democratic” as it gave all of the firm’s staff, its clients and professional intermediaries the opportunity to provide feedback via workshops, surveys and other engagement techniques - thereby ensuring that all key stakeholders were engaged at each stage of the two year process.

“I would personally like to thank my fellow partners and staff who committed whole-heartedly to this major initiative while remaining focused on their day jobs.”

Matt Casey, Creative Director of Origin, explained: “The new Beever and Struthers brand is all about a promise of service excellence. The company has been delivering on this promise for years, striving to excel by maintaining industry-leading standards. What makes the company and its people so different is the fact that they judge their past, present and future achievements by what they achieve for their clients. This commitment to surpassing expectations on a daily basis is the focus of the new communications strategy.

“What defines any brand is its history, its people and its company ethos. At the heart of Beever and Struthers’ business philosophy is a very real desire to achieve better things on behalf of its clients. From our point of view, that makes for a very compelling brand story.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Beever and Struthers .