Virtual third birthday toasted by Mayor
Newton Abbot Accountancy Firm have celebrated their third birthday by announcing a new business name that pays tribute to their local roots.
Malt Accountancy - as it will now be known - was set up in October 2017 as TH & Co, led by husband a wife team Tami and Paul Harrison alongside Tami’s sister Cherry. With rapid growth in recent years seeing the team growing to seven, now including Shannon, Cat, Hussein and Kim. They have also recently relocated from their offices in Union Street to Devon Square, the heart of the town’s professional services community.
Unable to celebrate their birthday in person due to current pandemic restrictions, they marked their birthday with a special video conference with their clients on Friday 4 December and where also joined by Mayor of Newton Abbot, Councillor Richard Jenks.
Cllr Jenks said: “Congratulations to Tami, Paul and all your team. We talk about COVID and it is difficult. But in my experience in business - although I am retired now - is that when it is tough in recessions, these are the best times to seek opportunities. I have always found one of the most important partners in any business is your accountancy company. You always need that bit of expertise and knowledge next to you.
I’m sure Tami and Paul and the team will be helping these businesses and helping them to grow and provide expert advice and support to them.”
Commenting on the new name, business founder Tami said: “Why Malt? It’s because we are a company with rural roots in Devon’s agricultural landscape and wanted to give a nod to Newton Abbot’s own industrial history at Tucker’s Maltings. We also chose Malt, as our clients agree that we are a core ingredient in the success of their businesses. We work in partnership with our clients, blending approachability with professional expertise.
“We love working and living in Devon and are proud of its history and traditions. But we also utilise the best in accountancy technology to deliver a fresh, efficient, flexible service to enable our clients to get on with enjoying their work and personal lives as we do.”
The business started with a healthy client base of 200 inherited from Tami, Paul and Cherry’s decades of skilled work within another accountancy firm. They have since doubled their base to around 400 clients with a core of SMEs, offering a full package of tax and accounting services including payroll, bookkeeping and wider business guidance.
Tami says that their use of modern technology has been particularly valuable to clients in recent times, with the impact of COVID-19. “Everything comes from good data. We offer much more comprehensive services that work in real time and give our clients access to live financial positions and forecasts.
“That that has been really important, particularly during the pandemic, where clients have had to make quick decisions on restructuring or business loans. It means everything to us that we work in partnership with businesses, we get a lot of satisfaction out of really being able to help our clients.”
Paul adds: “One of the most satisfying moments in the last three years was a client survey, which showed how approachable and professional our clients found us. We always knew we had a good relationship with our clients, but that was so inspiring to see it.
“We have also been really pleased with the way our clients have embraced our modern approach, even those who claim not to be tech-savvy have really adapted and seen the benefits. With our modern approach, we also see environmental benefits and we are working towards being a paperless office. We have always wanted to put this in place and remote working through the pandemic has brought that forward.”
With the addition of new team members over the last 18 months, Malt Accountancy is flourishing and has expanding its capabilities to support the local business community.
