Mark Smith Email & Phone Number

Colchester And Ipswich

I joined Scrutton Bland in 2007 having become disillusioned with working for a larger firm where advising clients was becoming increasing difficult as the level of internal procedures to be completed became onerous.My role at Scrutton Bland covers a wide range of activities, ranging from working with our Education Sector clients as Head of Internal Audit to advising on Corporate acquisitions and overseeing some of Scrutton Bland's larger financial statements audit clients.The… Show more I joined Scrutton Bland in 2007 having become disillusioned with working for a larger firm where advising clients was becoming increasing difficult as the level of internal procedures to be completed became onerous.My role at Scrutton Bland covers a wide range of activities, ranging from working with our Education Sector clients as Head of Internal Audit to advising on Corporate acquisitions and overseeing some of Scrutton Bland's larger financial statements audit clients.The fact that I do not have a full portfolio to manage together with the my broad range of experience means that I am well placed to pick up ad-hoc assignments as they arise, which clients have found to be of particular benefit when acquisition opportunities arise.For my Education Sector clients, be they Internal or Financial Statements audit clients, I am discussing sector developments throughout the year with them as well as acting as a sounding board for them and members of the Audit Committees. With the recent cuts in Government Funding my clients are increasingly looking to learn from best practice with my breadth of experience from both my own and my colleagues clients this is an area where I am well placed to advise my clients on.My clients are increasing looking forward in terms of both acquisition opportunities and also trading projections for their existing businesses. Scrutton Bland have relationships with all the major providers of finance and are now working with Cloud based forecasting software which is proving to be beneficial to both providers of finance and to our clients. Show less

Chelmsford

As a Senior Manager I was responsible for the delivery of audit services to some of the offices largest clients, including fully listed and AIM list clients.It was working with the fully listed clients that gave me tremendous exposure to working to a new set of regulatory requirements as well as exposure to a lots of due diligence assignments as my clients looked to grow organically as well as through acquisition.By their very nature the due diligence assignments meant working… Show more As a Senior Manager I was responsible for the delivery of audit services to some of the offices largest clients, including fully listed and AIM list clients.It was working with the fully listed clients that gave me tremendous exposure to working to a new set of regulatory requirements as well as exposure to a lots of due diligence assignments as my clients looked to grow organically as well as through acquisition.By their very nature the due diligence assignments meant working to rigid timetables and tailoring the work, including the format of the reporting to the clients Board accordingly. I gained a reputation from my clients for being able to quickly get to the point and identify the significant risks attaching to any particular proposed transaction, as well as being able to identify potential 'deal breakers' as well as ways to overcome these.This work has helped me in my role at Scrutton Bland when assisting clients with potential acquisitions.In addition to Corporate Finance work I further developed my Financial Statements Audit expertise as well as undertaking some Internal Audit work for 2 local Health Authorities. Show less

Colchester And Chelmsford

I left school at 16 starting as an employed YTS in Colchester on £50 per week ! ! !As well as being the office gopher, so doing the fish and chip run and sweepstakes I started studying AAT on day release at College in Chelmsford and then going on study for my ACCA qualification which I completed in 1994.