Partner Article

Figures add up to jobs and growth at Geens Chartered Accountants

A growing Staffordshire based accountancy practice has increased its staff by almost a quarter inside five months.

Geens Chartered Accountants have welcomed seven new staff members to their offices in Liverpool Road, Stoke, since March, 2021. It’s part of a long-held strategy by the company to grow their own team, investing in young people from the North Staffordshire area.

The new recruits include a major investment in young talent, including two new trainee Chartered Accountants, Kelly Robinson and Ruby Whilock and an accountancy apprentice, Theepikan Nagulendran,

Aziz Ravasia has also joined Geens as an auditor, together with accountant Hollie Wiles, payroll manager Julie Briscoe and office administrator, Helen Wilshaw.

Geens Chartered Accountants is one of the oldest firms in North Staffordshire and can trace its history back to 1884.

“It’s always good to be able to offer new, young talent an opportunity to build a career and we see this as one of the hallmarks here at Geens,” said Director Chris Beeston. “We have four Directors and all have come through the ranks at Geens and now we are offering that opportunity to young professionals such as Theepikan, Kelly and Ruby.”

Chris is himself a good example. He joined Geens straight from school and enjoyed a rapid rise, passing his tax examinations with the highest mark internationally, while proving his worth with clients, before being rewarded with a Directorship at Geens at the age of just 26.

He added: “My fellow Directors, Karen Staley, Carl France and Dean Clacher also came through the ranks at Geens, as did many of our senior team. We stress to new staff that they have a chance to develop a good career here at Geens.

“It has been an extremely busy 2021, there’s been much strategic growth at the company. We set out plans to grow before Coronavirus hit the UK, but the pandemic has then created further demand for sound financial and business advice. For example, we’ve bolstered our payroll functions to support new and established clients, as there’s been many changes due to government pandemic measures and companies are now demanding more professional support.”

All staff are now back working from the Geens’ office, having worked from home during recent Covid-19 lockdowns.

Chris said that the company had a strong team ethos and there had been a move by staff to come back together and work from the office again.

He added: “Team work in the office is ideal when we have new recruits as they learn so much from their more experienced colleagues and being in the office bonds us together, creating a team isn’t simply about learning accountancy skills, day to day conversation adds to the Geens’ ethos.

“We have also worked to create the best available working environment that we can, introducing a flexible working pattern and adjusting the working week, so that staff can go home earlier on Fridays. Everyone works hard at Geens but we also work at creating a positive team ethos and this results in high levels of staff retention.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nigel Howle .