A TALENT with numbers put Kevin Winterburn on the path to a career in accountancy.

Now he is helping firms figure out a way to grow in uncertain times following the recession as a director of Huddersfield chartered accountancy firm Sheards.

Kevin joined Fred Sheards and Sons after gaining a BTec in business studies and a clutch of A-levels at Huddersfield Technical College.

The offices of Sheards stand on the opposite side of New North Road to the campus of what is now Kirklees College.

“At that point I had decided that I’d enough of studying,” Kevin recalls. “I didn’t fancy university. It wasn’t my wish to leave home.

“Little did I know I would still be studying five years later!

“I wanted to get out there and get on with my career – and that was always likely to be something financial. That was where my natural aptitude lay.

“I applied to banks and accountancy firms and got an interview with Fred Sheard and Sons.

“I started at the age of 18 and went to Huddersfield University to do a foundation course. At the age of 19, I started studying for professional exams to become a chartered accountant.”

Even at that stage, Kevin had been “earmarked” as a potential partner.

He recalls: “I was going on a revision course when I was told: ‘Don’t worry about your exam results. We see a future for you here.’

“That was nice to hear, but it was also a surprise because I didn’t see that coming!”

Kevin became a partner in 1999. Now one of three directors – alongside colleagues Richard Lay and Carolyn Atkinson – Kevin is relishing the challenges posed by the recession and its aftermath.

“We have raised the profile of the firm and recommendations into the firm are up,” he says.

“The challenge was that we had a firm which was 100 years old with an ageing client base and a very traditional reputation.

“We changed the name from Fred Sheard and Sons to Sheards and we got someone to help us with the PR.

“We had some degree of success, but ultimately our success is down to doing a good job for our clients and building up our relationships with the other professionals, such as the bankers and the solicitors.

“The three of us attend networking events. We also made a decision to enable the team members as well as the partners to attend such events.

“It is about getting to know the people behind the job. Through regular meetings, you develop a genuine interest in the person.”

Says Kevin: “The majority of our clients are based in Huddersfield with a smaller number in places like Leeds and Halifax.

“We are a general practice dealing mainly with a wide range of small and medium-sized firms and owner-managed businesses.

“We like to help start-ups as well. It is great to be involved with a business from its early days.

“They can often need a lot of hand-holding, but if you look after a client from the beginning, you have a client for life.

“And as an economy, we need to generate new businesses and encourage people to be enterprising.”

Kevin says companies are generally cautious about prospects for their businesses and the economy.

“We aren’t in a period of doom and gloom,” he says, “but everyone is very wary. We have seen a lot of businesses trim costs.

“The challenge for many businesses now is where they have trimmed staffing levels and now see the potential for getting orders.

“Businesses are having to make decisions around areas such as short-term staffing needs to meet those orders.”

Kevin says Sheards tries to be a model employer itself.

“We are very open with staff,” he says. “In the old days, every decision was taken behind closed doors.

“We look for input from all our team. For example, we recently had an open discussion to get everyone’s ideas on getting new clients, improving service levels etc. The results were fantastic.”

Being a director has also been a revelation of sorts!