Elinor's LinkedIn profile

This year marks a significant milestone: I’m celebrating 20 years leading Pentlands Accountants and Advisors. It’s also been a year of reflection, especially after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ladies First Inspirational Awards. Recognising your achievements and taking time to reflect is a vital part of running a business and this year has certainly offered that opportunity.

My career began in retail, starting as a trainee at Marks & Spencer at just 16, followed by a role as Personnel Manager at Tesco. I later set up and ran a retail fashion business, but the demands of the job proved difficult to balance with raising two young children. That’s when I changed direction enrolling in the ACCA qualification at college and securing a part-time role at Edwards and Pentlands in Warwick and then qualifying in 2004.

At 34, I was part of a management buyout of the practice, and in 2010, I acquired the remaining partner’s share. That moment marked a turning point. Drawing on my retail background, I wanted to build a practice rooted in strong client relationships. We made the bold decision to work exclusively with businesses turning over at least £100,000 annually. It was a tough call at first, we had to turn down prospects but today, our largest client has a turnover of £50 million. As registered auditors, we’re also able to support clients as they grow and reach audit thresholds, offering a seamless progression.

Pentlands is now a team of 10, and like many practices our size, we face constant change. The pandemic brought the fastest pace of transformation, along with the significant changes in tax legislation and introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD). One of the biggest challenges is the unpredictability of HMRC: deadlines shift, announcements are delayed or scrapped, and trust in new policies is hard to maintain yet we must still prepare for them.

For our clients, the current economic climate presents its own hurdles. Rising inflation, interest rates, and political shifts both in the UK and globally have led to increased taxes and uncertainty. We’re now paying the highest tax levels in the 20 years I’ve run this business, and our clients are feeling the same pressure. Those working with corporates are seeing decision-making stall, and global instability, particularly from the US, is adding to the unease. In this environment, maintaining profit is a challenge, let alone achieving consistent growth.

Outside of work, I cherish time with family and friends. I’m blessed with two beautiful young grandchildren who’ve brought a joyful new dynamic to life. I also love to travel and occasionally push myself out of my comfort zone, always to raise vital finds for charities, for example doing a fire walk or a parachute jump!