Merry Christmas from FD Works – 2017 has been a great year!

We’ve managed to pack a lot into the past twelve months, and we hope you and your business have experienced the same positive changes, reassessment of your business goals and growth in your core team – that’s what we love to see from the ambitious businesses that we work with.

So here’s our lowdown on how 2017 was for FD Works – and where we aim to be next year too.

Creating our manifesto and defining our values

You may think of us as a firm of accountants and business advisers – but we’re also a business like any other. And that means we have the same challenges, the same goals, the same concerns and the same aspirations as you do for your own business.

But getting those goals and aspirations down on paper can be a part of the process that sometimes gets forgotten by accountancy firms. As numbers people, there’s a tendency to look at the data and forget about the emotional impact of your services, or the core beliefs and values that drive you and your team.

We knew we wanted to be different. And that meant connecting with who we are as a firm, and understanding what drives us.

So, over the past year, we’ve been working with the amazing people at Valuable Content to create our own FD Works manifesto – a document that encapsulates why we’re in business, what are goals and aspirations are for the firm, and the key values that our team work by and deliver to our satisfied clients.

You can read our one-page manifesto here

Having that clear roadmap is something we’d definitely recommend to each and every business – there’s advice on writing your manifesto on the Valuable Content site.

Expanding to a team of 11

A big part of achieving the goals in your manifesto is having the right team on board – and we’ve been busy expanding the FD Works team over the past year to bring in the talent we need to help your business achieve its true potential.

We started 2017 as a team of 8 and, with the expert recruitment assistance of the team at Create + Adapt, we now have 11 people bringing financial support and business insights to our growing portfolio of clients.

We have Stuart Budd on board now as our Commercial Director, helping to drive the growth of the practice, and bringing his years of commercial experience and Big Four accounting expertise to our ambitious small business clients.

Senol Ozcan is now in role as the lead for our finance team, helping us to focus on process, efficiency and making the whole FD Works machine more streamlined.

Oliver Aldridge and Laura Mirfield have both joined the team as Finance Business Partners, bringing a new level of value to our support services and business advice, and a wealth of enthusiasm for evolving the way we work.

And we now have our own Payroll Manager, Lucy Anstey, heading up our outsourced payroll services and making those payroll runs happen seamlessly for clients.

It’s a team that we’re exceptionally proud of and we hope you’ll see the difference in the depth and value of the services we bring you in 2018 – and we’re sure there will be more talented people joining us over the next 12 months.

Launching our new website

In the digital world, your website is such a vital window onto your business. And in April this year, we launched our brand new site, designed with help from the brilliant team at Atomic Smash and based around content from Steve Ash at CommsBreakdown.

The aim of the new site was to encapsulate where FD Works adds value for clients, and to make this the online heart of the practice.

Key to this was our Insights blog, where we share top tips, helpful advice and strategic ideas for everyone from sole traders to start-up founders, established business owners to hyper-growth businesses looking to scale.

We’ll continue to evolve and expand the site throughout 2018, with more helpful content about the kinds of businesses we work best with, and a deeper dive into our core values as a business – and lots more practical tips for you to try.

Dive into the Insights blog here and get the tips you need for evolving your business in 2018.

Putting customer service front and centre

Helping with bold business decisions – that’s our mission statement for 2018, and our ongoing goal to provide the best possible customer service and commercial advice to our clients.

And helping you to manage your finances and understand your business is a huge part of this service – that’s how we help you evolve and grow.

We’ll empower you to achieve the full potential of your business idea, by guiding the financial future of your company and helping you make the business decisions that will push your company to new heights of success.

We’ll help you to embrace your numbers, get full control of your financial destiny and achieve the personal and business goals you’ve set for yourself – with genuine one-to-one support at every stage of the journey.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

So, to each and every client and business out there, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a prosperous 2018. We hope you enjoy your down time away from the business and get to enjoy all the festive cheer, family time and relaxation that the season brings.

The FD Works office will be closing at midday on Friday 22 December, ready to get the seasonal festivities underway. But we’ll be back on Tuesday 2 January as usual, ready to help you get the absolute best from your finances.

Here’s to a great New Year and a brilliant start to 2018!

Who are FD Works?

Here at FD Works our team of Xero trained accountants and business advisors provide ambitious businesses and their teams with a range of accountancy services. We help business owners organise their data, understand their business and provide actionable insight.