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Silver Levene

23 Dec 2008

Mark Gold, partner in the UK's largest ACCA firm Silver Levene, discusses the company's A list celebrity client base and weathering the economic storm

If there is growing nervousness in the accountancy profession over the recession, it's certainly not apparent at the offices of Silver Levene, the largest ACCA firm in the country.

'Last year was a really good year for us,' says its ebullient partner Mark Gold, pointing to the Accountancy Age Medium-Sized Firm of the Year award on the windowsill. 'We're not at all complacent, but we'd say we're in a very good place.'

The potential effect of the economic downturn on business is preoccupying many firms. Silver Levene, for all Gold's confidence, is no exception. The partners have been holding weekly meetings for some time to discuss emerging trends and the effect of the recession on clients and their own business. 'We know we will be OK because we have a large client base and we know what we want to do,' says Gold. '2009 will be a struggle, no doubt, but 99% of our clients will be fine. Recessions come and go, and you have to be careful of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.'

Overall, he believes the profession should be well-placed to weather the storm, as long as practices have not made the common mistake of concentrating on 'just doing the work and losing sight of the bigger picture. Everyone has something else they can offer clients - you should always look to add value'.

It is a philosophy that Silver Levene takes seriously. 'The most important thing we have done is to recognise that we are a business,' says Gold. That means opportunities are constantly being identified and exploited as far as possible. 'We sit down together as partners regularly and discuss how the business is going.

'At one of these meetings, we realised that a few of the partners had barristers on their client list, so we gave them all to one partner and set up a specific service offering.' Silver Levene is now the second-largest firm dealing with barristers in the UK, adding more than 100 new barrister clients to its books in the past year.

The firm is constantly on the lookout for self-contained specialised accountancy businesses, and in 2006 it acquired Modiplus, a practice specialising in pharmaceuticals and locum accounting services. 'That has worked brilliantly,' says Gold. 'We look for a niche and think how we can develop it. We're a business; it's how we work.'

Starting from scratch

This concentration on niche areas has allowed the firm, which was set up in 1957 by Murray Levene and Reg Silver - initially working as bookkeepers from the bathroom of one of their houses - to expand steadily. It now has 17 partners and more than 100 staff. Initially, the niche market approach was largely accidental - some of the first clients to join the new firm were in the media sector and, as Gold puts it, 'it all built up from there'.

Silver Levene's close links with the world of film, music, theatre and television is now a defining feature of the firm. 'Sixty per cent of our business is in media, and we are very well known in the sector,' says Gold. This means, to the delight of its staff, that you never know who you will run into in reception. Gold's own clients include several EastEnders actors and television presenters, while another partner's client list includes George Michael.

The firm has also enjoyed great success in identifying and spinning off specific processes. For instance, it outsourced its own typing services to two new offices in Bangalore, saving about 50% on administration costs. Seeing a wider opportunity, though, the firm extended the service to clients and now offers a booming transcription service - mainly to the legal and medical profession - and other support services from Bangalore.

'We look for processes that can be outsourced and, wherever possible, outsource to ourselves,' says Gold. 'We are always looking for any added value we can give to clients.' This particularly applies to its SME client base. 'What SMEs want is business advice - they want us to be quasi-finance directors.'

While Silver Levene has made huge efforts to stay in one site in the UK, that does not mean it has ignored the international market. Its office in China is thriving and, as well as advising UK companies operating in China, it has brought a number of Chinese companies to the PLUS markets in the UK. It also keeps links with clients who expand overseas through its membership of the Intercontinental Grouping of Accountants and Lawyers (IGAL).

50 and fabulous

In 2007, the firm celebrated its 50th anniversary, as well as the 75th birthday of Murray Levene, one of its founders. Its strong family links - three members of the Silver and Levene families work at the firm - make it an unusual phenomenon in the profession, but one of which it is fiercely proud. 'We are a family here and you always know you have support,' says Gold. It is an ethos it has worked hard to protect while its business grows. It plans to stay, for instance, in the same Warren Street office in London that has housed the firm for the past 20 years.

Last year, neighbouring businesses had a taste of the family atmosphere when they were treated to the sight of eight amphibious 'Duck vehicles' making their way down the narrow street to pick up the firm's entire staff and partners for a day out to celebrate the firm's anniversary. A trip down the Thames was followed by lunch at the Tower of London and high tea at a luxury hotel.

In the evening, the firm took over the dress circle at the Victoria Palace theatre for a performance of Billy Elliot. 'It's one of the shows we've worked on,' says Gold, by way of explanation.

While the media and entertainment sector can be hit hard by a recession, Gold believes that enough TV and film deals are in the pipeline to ensure most of its clients weather the storm. The firm is still picking up a steady stream of new clients which, he says, is down to its emphasis on excellent individual service. 'We get back to clients quickly and keep them up to date, whatever their size. A good client recommends us and that's how the practice grows - our intake of new clients never stops, and 90% come through a recommendation.'

This article is by Liz Fisher, and is published in the January 2009 edition of Accounting and Business UK.