Chairman hands over the reins at regional accountancy firm Forrester Boyd
David Everatt, outgoing Chairman, Right – Mike Beckett, new Chairman
After 4 years at the helm, David Everatt is handing over the chairman reins to partner Mike Beckett.
David Everatt has served his 4 year term as Chairman of Forrester Boyd, one of the largest and progressive accountancy firms in the region. During this time, David has led the firm through some very memorable times.
Speaking of his time as Chairman, David said “We had a number of partners nearing retirement age. The careful management and transition of their departure as well as progressing 9 new partners through the ranks has been an interesting challenge and one that has not only added to the number of partners that we now have but has also brought the average age of our partners down considerably. This reflects the firm’s philosophy for growing and nurturing our own talent.
The firm has grown year on year attracting more clients and delivering more services to existing clients. This led to the firm looking to promote some of its senior staff into partner positions to ensure it can continue to deliver its ‘partner-led’ service to clients more effectively.
David has also managed the firm through the progression and development of its Wealth Management services. The wealth management arm was integrated into the Forrester Boyd brand in 2019 and has continued to go from strength to strength, seeing it ranked 3rd in the Financial Times Top 100 Financial Advisory firms in 2020.
2020 then saw David steer the firm through the Covid-19 pandemic. In the midst of this, he also drove the acquisition of Hull based accountancy firm Graybrowne forward.
David continued, “I am very confident in passing the firm over to the capable hands of Mike Beckett. I feel that the firm is in a very good place for Mike to continue to develop our core services and client engagement and I wish him all the very best in the role with my full support.”
Mike Beckett, partner, has been with Forrester Boyd for over 18 years. Based at the firm’s Beverley and Hull offices, Mike is very proud to be taking over the helm from David. Speaking of his appointment Mike said, “I am very excited to be appointed as chairman of the firm. David has handed over the reins in a very strong position and I am looking forward to continuing to help shape the firm for the future to meet the needs of our clients.”
Mike takes over the firm on the back of a period of extreme uncertainty for businesses globally. The impacts of not only the pandemic but also Brexit are still rippling through our businesses. Mike sees one of the greatest challenges over the next 12 months is to help and guide clients through this period. This means ensuring we have the staff and the skills to deliver the expert guidance that businesses need. Last year Mike was at the forefront of the acquisition of Hull based Graybrowne. The pandemic meant we could not meet with our new clients face to face so one of his focusses is on ensuring we can increase our touch points with our clients at the Hull office and serve the expanse of expertise within the firm to these clients.
Mike is looking forward to working closely with the partnership team and with Kevin Hopper, Managing Partner, to help shape the future direction and development of the firm. Mike said, “We need to continue to be agile and to adapt our services to meet the changing needs of our clients. It will be very interesting to help shape the strategy of the firm to ensure we continue to be ahead of the curve and deliver exceptional services for our clients whilst continuing to mentor and develop our staff internally. The business landscape has changed in so many ways, we need to ensure that we stay at the sharp end and establish new services and solutions to continue to deliver the very best business advisory and support services to our clients”
