Goundry’s Estate Agents Case Study
The story of Goundry’s Estate Agents
Andy came into the industry by accident, the story of which is quite funny, but we will leave him to tell you that. He has over 40 years of experience and has seen many of the peaks and troughs experienced by the UK in the housing market. “There have been as many hard times as good times since I started my career in Estate Agency”.
Goundry’s employs a team of dedicated staff, all who love the property industry and who are all professionals in the industry. The team now includes Andy’s son and daughter who also fell into Estate Agency by chance, from helping out now and then when it was busy, to building their own career in the industry.
When Goundry’s was first established the focus was purely on the buying and selling of property, it soon became clear to Andy that the market was evolving and that lettings were becoming a repeated request from property owners who wanted a professional company they could trust to rent out their premises. “I got approached by a family connection who asked if I could let his property, at first, I was not sure this was an area we wanted to become involved in, I agreed and soon realised that it suited the business to have this offering to our clients, we haven’t looked back since”.
Why Goundry’s Estate chose Howards Accountants
Andy was considering vehicle options for the business, Dave (Andy’s son) mentioned that Alex had been talking about electric cars recently when they had spoken. Dave remembered that there were potential savings for the company by using electric vehicles. With this conversation in mind, Andy made the decision to call Alex and arrange a meeting, keen to discuss the vehicles in more details and intrigued to have another viewpoint of the business financial affairs. It was this meeting that started the relationship between Goundry’s Estate Agent and Howards Accountants.
As the business has grown, Andy found that his existing accountant would present him with the figures and inform him of any liabilities but was not pro-active in their approach. Never offering up information and more and more Andy found himself doing his own research.
“Alex filled me with information, all of which saved the business money, there were things that we discussed during that meeting that over the years has helped me make decisions to this day within the business”.
The challenge Goundry’s Estate Agent faced
Having built a professional team, slowly but surely Andy is now beginning to take a step back, working fewer days and finding a work / life balance that for 40 years has been a challenge to accomplish.
From the initial discussions about using electric vehicles, right through to the acquisition of other businesses and planning how to handle the transfer of responsibility of the company across to his children, Andy uses Howards Accountants as a tool within his business.
“Planning for the present and future go hand in hand and both are as important as each other, when I do finally take a step back and decide it is time to retire, I want the business to continue to flourish”.
Alex has spent time with Andy planning budgets which has allowed him, comfortably, to make the decisions he has made that has led to the business growth. “Having an accountant who is both re-active to the day-to-day queries and needs, and pro-active in future planning means that decisions made are well thought out and considered, knowing clearly what impact they may have”.
How Howards Accountants responded
Andy has always been bold and brave in his decision making within the business, applying a business acumen with knowledge gained from several years in the industry. So, from day one of meeting Howards Accountants Andy has never hesitated in approaching Alex to use him as a sounding board for financial decisions, helping him to analyse associated financial risks in decision making.
“It is important to know what is happening in your own industry and keep up with the times, for many businesses they will always do what they have always done, that doesn’t always work. I have never been afraid to change tact when needed and knowing I can go to Alex and the team to ask questions and get clarification has helped us no end.”
You can find out more about Goundry’s Estate Agents and their team here
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