100 years not out - and the future looks bright for local accountants!
ANORTH Staffordshire accountancy firm is celebrating a milestone 100 years in business during 2020. Walletts Chartered Certified Accountants – known as Walletts – was founded by Edgar Wallett in 1920 from offices in Pall Mall, Hanley.
The firm specialises in all aspects of accountancy including income tax, corporation tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax, VAT, statutory audit and accounts preparation as well as payroll, strategic planning and business advice.
Today, the company has 26 members of staff who operate across offices in Hanley and Biddulph; with hundreds of clients across Staffordshire and Cheshire as well as nationally and internationally.
Director David Fox said: “Myself and the team are incredibly proud to be celebrating the company’s 100th birthday. I’m sure there aren’t many accountancy firms who have been in business for a century. Obviously, business and the world we’re living in is so very, very different to what it was 100 years ago – especially when you think how much technology has advanced and changed in that time.”
Around eight years after the company was established, founder Edgar was joined by Wallace Mitchell and Cyril Salt.
Around the same time, Walletts relocated to Adventure Place, in Hanley, and became known as Edgar Wallett & Co.
The business operated under the same ownership until Edgar’s death in the mid-1960s before Wallace’s son, Rod Mitchell, joined his father and Cyril in partnership in about 1967.
David Fox joined the practice in 1968 just a few years before Cyril sadly passed away in the early seventies. David bought Wallace’s share of the business, and he and Rod were in practice together until Keith Salt became a partner in 1989.
The name of the business was then ‘modernised’ and changed to Walletts as it is known today.
After that, the company started to acquire a number of small practices including Stoddard Goodwin and Green in 1997.
In 1998, the practice commissioned the building of new office facilities in Adventure Place – where it has been based ever since.
And in 1999, Walletts merged with Malcolm Tatton & Co who operated from an office in Biddulph.
More recently, David Bould became partner when Rod Mitchell retired in 2004; and in 2015, Steve
Orme became a shareholder in the newly formed limited company.
David said: “The secret to our longevity is that as a firm we’ve adapted to meet the demands of the ever-changing world from an accountancy perspective.
“We are very pro-active as a team so that we go to clients with advice rather than them having to come to us, which has been particularly important during the pandemic.
“We strongly believe in getting to know all of our clients to understand their businesses, no matter what the size, so we are giving them added value.
“I would like to think that the relationships we’ve built up over the years have undoubtedly helped them during the pandemic, which has been an exceptionally challenging time for most businesses.”
David added: “We really appreciate the loyalty our clients have shown which has undoubtedly helped with our success.
“Our future looks bright as we’re looking to expand our client base, embrace new technology and continue to offer the first-class service our clients expect from us.”