Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
WK brews up an office winner
Forget Google with its bean bags and slides, a Blenheim business has taken the ‘modern office’ idea to the next level.
The team at WK Advisors and Accountants has installed a craft beer tap in the kitchen.
Company director Vaughan Harris said the WilliamsWarn Bench Kit, which allows them to make their own beer, was a breeze to install and easy to use.
‘‘It was almost plug in and play,’’ Harris said.
The company developed an interest in craft brewing because it was a growing market, and many of their clients were in the industry.
Fellow director Matthew Kerr said they now had a better understanding of what their clients did.
‘‘We can talk about fermentation, conditioning and those kinds of things,’’ Kerr said. ‘‘Even if it’s just scratching the surface, at least we have an understanding.’’
Harris said the beer tap was also about ‘‘humanising’’ the public image of accountants and adding some personality to the Alfred St office.
‘‘You’ll have a meeting with clients about 4pm, and then at 5pm it’s a nice way to finish the day with a beer, that the firm has just made themselves,’’ Harris said.
‘‘The other thing we want to do is ask our clients, ‘What would you like to make?’’’ Kerr added.
‘‘And they may want to make a cider or a pilsner or whatever they want. Then they can come back a few weeks later and try a couple with us.’’
And how is their beer being received by their professional brewer clients?
‘‘It’s only getting better and better,’’ Harris said.
But they were in no way planning to branch out into the brew business just yet.
‘‘Generally we are now finding that clients are more enthusiastic about having meetings here at the office,’’ Harris said. ‘‘We also have a nice new space here, and now with the summer coming the balcony will be an attraction too.’’
Kerr called it ‘‘relaxed professionalism’’. But can they still crunch the numbers when they’ve had a few?
‘‘It’s strictly after hours,’’ they said.