2023 is a very special year for Clarkson Hyde as it marks our 100 years in business! We are super-proud of this achievement, of our long heritage and of the way the business has evolved to support our fantastic clients and contacts in a multitude of areas.
We have moved on from the traditional audit, accounting and tax compliance firm in our early days to a practice that helps businesses to keep in top financial shape, to meet the demand of the ever-expanding accounting and tax legislation, to grow through mergers or acquisitions and to sell their business for maximum value. What’s more, those looking to expand in overseas markets can receive quality support through our home-grown international association, Clarkson Hyde Global, with access to professional service firms in over 65 international jurisdictions. For anyone who has chosen to work with our global team members, you will know how reassuring it is to find a carefully vetted, like-minded practice on foreign soil, where our lovely associates offer guidance to keep you compliant with local business regulations and to help you realise your goals.
This leads us on to the asset we are most proud of and that is the Clarkson Hyde team. Without the dedication, commitment, and excellent skills of our colleagues, we wouldn’t have achieved our centenary in robust good health. We are thankful to everyone who collaborates to deliver excellent service, to find ways of doing things better and to create a working atmosphere which is uniquely ‘Clarkson Hyde’. And it may come as a surprise to some that our ‘team’ is not just based from Clarkson Hyde in London but across six of our Clarkson Hyde Global firms – in France, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Spain, where our associates run legally independent Clarkson Hyde practices.
As part of our ‘big 100’ celebrations this year, we’ll be featuring some of our team members each month, across all of the brand holders, so you can get to know us a little better!
This month we will start with a trip down memory lane and look back at where Clarkson Hyde began, with our founders John Clarkson and Frank Hyde, as pictured above.
The two founding partners initially operated from a modest 1,100 square foot office in Basinghall Street, kitted out with three desks, three chairs, six filing cabinets and one Olivetti typewriter. It may not seem a particularly grand beginning, but it was the start of our 100 year history. Our founders celebrated the opening by taking their wives to see Charlie Chaplin in the silent movie The Pilgrim and treating them to dinner at Sweetings. The only surviving pictures show John as a rather dapper ‘Jack the Lad’ looking gentleman and Frank as a rather more conservative, old fashioned typical accountant character. John originally trained as an architect before changing disciplines and was the firm’s salesman, bringing in new clients at a time when the profession was forbidden from advertising – all new business was from recommendation or social contact.
It must be said that while we have much more freedom with our marketing these days, our greatest source of new business still comes from client recommendations, so it is with huge gratitude that we say thank you to our wonderful clients – your support and loyalty is what has enabled us to reach this amazing milestone and we look forward to what the future will bring – both for us and for you.