Article by Simon Northey
as featured in the Farm Weekly issue 15 July 2021
Usually we write articles to cover the many technical aspects of business and legislative changes affecting you as the reader, but this article is unashamedly an announcement on what is happening in Byfields’ world.
We are excited and proud to announce the appointment of two new directors on 1 July, being Scott Smith and Gordon Richards. Scott and Gordon are both based in our Perth office and represent our next generation of Byfields business owners. They are long serving individuals that share our commitment to providing high standard of services to businesses and farmers across Western Australia. We truly believe the director group will be enriched with the inclusion of Scott and Gordon and they will certainly play a role in leading our business through the everchanging landscape over many years to come.
This is part of our business ethos, which is to always bring the next generation in, we believe it invigorates the senior directors, allows for new thinking, and provides longevity to our business. We would like to further announce that we have acquired the majority of the client base of Heasman & Associates in Esperance as of 5th July 2021. The acquisition further expands our existing business operations in Esperance and further cements our commitment to the region following the acquisition of another practice and establishment of an Esperance office earlier in the year. We have combined the client bases and will be operating out of our existing Esperance office with our existing local team. Further strengthening the service level, Perth based Glenn Waldock, Neil Hooper, and Scott Smith, will be on hand regularly to assist the team in providing higher level strategy and advice. We would like to thank Malcolm Heasman for the opportunity to be involved and we are super excited about our long term commitment to the area.
On the flip side of the coin, we bid farewell to one of our long serving managers Mike Eckermann. Mike is retiring and looking forward to hooking up the caravan and seeing some of our great country. Mike was with us for the remaining 16 years of his career and made an outstanding contribution to Neil Hooper’s Ag section of the practice and the firm as a whole. He leaves a legacy of dedication, hard work, commitment, and loyalty, which will carry through into the future. Well done Mike and enjoy your much deserved retirement.
My final announcement is our decision to close our offices at lunch time on Fridays for the month of July. Like every other business during these last 15 months of Covid, we have had to manage the constant change and lean on our great staff to find the extra time and energy to carry out the many additional tasks required. We as a director group are now wanting to give a bit back to the staff and hopefully provide them with an opportunity to wind down a little and reset for the coming tax season.
Apologies again if you were looking forward to a gripping technical article, but we are over the moon with our recent events and wanted to share these with our reader base. I promise next month’s article will be back to normal!
Next Step
To discuss this article further, we encourage you to contact Simon Northey on (08) 9621 3200, or your Byfields accountant.
Disclaimer: This content provides general information only, current at the time of production. Any advice in it has been prepared without taking into account your personal circumstances. You should seek professional advice before acting on any material.