Pictured: (l-r) Becky Milioto (Unum - Sponsor of the
award), David and John Baldwin (Baldwins Accountants), Tim Jackson
(Unum) Annabel Prow (Wilsons)
West Midlands based independent accountancy firm, Baldwins, has
beaten off tough competition to be crowned the 'Leading Advisor to
Family Businesses', in last Thursday's (November 17) prestigious
Family Business Awards.
In their second year of running, the awards - the region's only
initiative giving specific recognition to family businesses and
their leaders - were announced at a glittering black tie dinner in
Birmingham's Town Hall, attracting over 300 guests.
This is a real coup for Baldwins which, as one of the largest
independent family-owned accountancy practices in the region, has
been advising family businesses for over 40 years. Having formed in
1970, the firm has since gone from strength to strength, and now
employs more than 120 staff in eight offices across the
Midlands.
John Baldwin, owner and son of the founder of Baldwins,
comments: "We're very proud to have won this award which recognizes
our outstanding level of service to family businesses. As a family
business ourselves, we understand the special pressures faced by
family businesses and so it can be no surprise that we have a
particular empathy with them, which is no doubt what draws them to
us. We also understand the value of personal service; that
'personal touch' you often only find in family businesses, and
something that remains at the core of our service offering.
"Our ability to nurture and retain clients has enabled our rapid
growth over the years. We serve all sizes of family business - from
small subcontractors to those with turnovers in excess of
£150m - and now have a very loyal client base; probably the
largest by number of any accountancy firm in the Midlands."
Baldwins Accountants' eight offices are located in Walsall,
Ashby de la Zouch, Leamington, Loughborough, Nottingham, Nuneaton,
Stourbridge and Tamworth. Running the business alongside John
Baldwin is his son, David Baldwin, who began as a trainee and
worked hard to prove his worth to sit alongside John as director.
John's youngest daughter Katy has recently joined as a trainee
herself, whilst her sister Shelley is a bookkeeper in the Walsall
office.
Looking to the future, David Baldwin comments; "We encourage and
empower our people to manage their businesses within the group to
reflect the local market. Each of our offices is located at the
heart of its community which enables us to gain an understanding of
the local economy and the people working within it. This approach
works for us, and has more recently enabled us to open more service
lines - consultancy and expanded corporate finance - as added value
for our clients. As we continue to hold this work ethic at our
fore, we expect to succeed and grow whilst helping our clients do
the same. We believe we are the best kept secret in the accountancy
world, and winning this award has proven we are certainly moving in
the right direction."