For the past 35 years, Keith Grover has worked at the heart of HB Accountants, he is our Audit and Accounts Hero and has seen many changes over the years. He first joined us back in 1986, there was one DOS-based computer for use by the whole office (if you don’t remember DOS-based computers, Google it, it means you are young). No mobile phones and two thirds of the office was male and the women usually worked as secretaries, thankfully things have changed. Fast forward to today when over half the office is female and we’re moving to fully digitised taxation and accounting systems. The one thing that remains, as Keith explains, is that clients still expect the same dedication and thorough understanding of their business. It’s this personal touch that sets HB apart.
In the heady days of the early 1980s, Keith decided to specialise in accountancy after completing his degree in business studies. He gained vital experience and passed his professional qualifications whilst working for Mercer and Hole in St Albans before moving to the London offices of Stoy Hayward to expand his experience. It was at Stoy Hayward that he cut his teeth on audits and Keith recalls the luxury of staying in hotels, eating great food and socialising with his peers when travelling on business.
Keith was recruited at HB to support the listing of one of HBs biggest clients, The Davy Group, to the unlisted Securities Market. Keith recalls spending hours reviewing past audits to fill any gaps in information. Eventually the decision was made not to list and Keith moved onto new clients including pearl dealer, Mikimoto, and a client who sold Ferrari Maranello 550s! During this time, Keith was responsible for monitoring audits and reviewing files across the five offices which made up the HB group at the time, and for managing the technical training for the team.
“Your colleagues make such a difference to your life – they impact whether you enjoy being at work and how much you learn, especially in your early career. I can honestly say that the people that I have worked with at HB have been great and the current team is fantastic! The other element that I’m hugely grateful for is the flexibility. The company ethos has always been to work hard but not spend long hours in the office. This allows for a positive work/life balance – something that was almost heard of in the 1980s and ’90s. I truly think that HB was ahead of the curve on this!”
If you’d like to learn more about our history, you can learn about our birth 100 years ago here or about how the 2nd World War impacted us here. Also interesting is how we got our name here and about our other fabulous director, Karen Chase here.
We’ve been in the accountancy business for over 100 years and today we are here to help you. Our vast experience means you have access to practical information and support no matter your business size or sector. If you would like a no obligation discussion about how we can help you and your business, please feel free to contact the team on 01992 444466. We’re accountants for business and we’re here to help you grow.
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