Long-serving staff have celebrated a combined 165 years of service at a leading Coventry and Warwickshire accountancy firm.
HB&O, which has offices in Coventry and Leamington, has recognised five of the longest serving members of its team.
Sue Linnett, Andy Jones and Jo Hancock marked 35 years with the firm this year, with John Walton and Alex Baulcombe reaching a milestone 30 years.
The business has seen significant growth in that time, including a landmark merger 20 years ago which brought together DA Owen and Harrison Beale. It now employs more than 110 staff across its two offices.
This year, for the first time, the firm has broken into the Top 50+50 Accountancy Firm rankings.
HB&O has a track record of retaining staff and supporting progression with a range of training and development opportunities. It supports study with AAT, ICAEW or the ACCA and offers a full study package for trainees.
Jo Hancock, Client Manager, has marked 35 years with the firm after joining as a trainee from college, and she now specialises in smaller owner-managed business accounts and management accounts.
She said: “I joined straight from college. I studied travel and tourism, enjoyed the finance side of my course and came to HB&O for a couple of weeks to see if I liked it – 35 years later and I’m still here!
“I was a trainee accountant and did all of my exams through HB&O, achieving my ACCA qualification.
“I’ve seen the company grow, with expansion in services and changes to systems. I’m really proud to have been here for 35 years.”
Andy Jones, Tax and Payroll Senior, joined when he was 22 and diversified into tax and payroll after being presented with an opportunity.
“I joined as an accountant at first, but about 25 years ago there was a request for support in payroll and I’ve been in that area ever since,” he said.
“The biggest change has been with technology. When I first started, we had one computer and no internet. It is completely different now and everything is certainly more efficient.
“I’m a mental health first aider and have been proud to be involved in that, with mental health much more recognised now than 35 years ago.”
Sue Linnett, Accounts Senior, has marked 35 years since she came back to the business – having previously been with the company as a trainee straight from college.
She said: “I had left DA Owen for another job as a cashier at a solicitors, which I then left to have a baby. DA Owen contacted me to see if I would like to come back to them to do a few days a week, which then turned into a full-time role and I’m still here!
“When I joined there was only five of us in the team, now there are over 100, but we have still kept that family business feel. I’ve always enjoyed working here.”
John Walton, Associate Director, has marked 30 years at the firm and looks after the small business side of the practice.
He said: “The firm has seen significant growth over the last 10 years and it has been exciting to be part of that. I think that the one important thing is, when you work at a firm, you have to get on with the people you work with and everyone gets on well here.
“There are always changes coming in technology. Artificial intelligence is going to change things dramatically and Making Tax Digital will have a major impact too.”
Payroll Manager Alex Baulcombe has chalked up three decades with the firm. He added: “I started here in accounts preparation, one day a colleague who managed personal tax and payroll at the same time needed some support.
“I put my hand up and volunteered to help on payroll and that was that. It has been a nice, niche specialism to have, especially with the developments we have seen in payroll, such as real-time information, auto-enrolment and on-going HMRC PAYE/NIC compliance.
“We are well looked after here. Having worked here so long we have kept clients throughout different mergers and I’m still doing the payroll now for clients I was working with over 20 years ago.”
Helen Coombes, Staff Partner at HB&O, added: “We would like to thank Sue, Jo, Andy, Alex and John for their loyal service and dedication to the firm over the last three decades and more.
“The experience and knowledge they bring to the team are invaluable and will be essential as we continue to grow and drive the firm forward.
“We are proud to have excellent staff retention figures and seek to provide continual opportunities to support career development for all of our team.”