Don't accountants have to be detached?
Impartial, yes. But not remote.
To do our job well, we need to know a lot about your business. In some areas of it, we might even need to know more than you do yourself. And while we view clients' personal or business finances with professional objectivity, we recognise that we may be dealing with sensitive and potentially emotive issues.
So it's important that the relationship between client and partner is reasonably free and uninhibited. A client should never hesitate to pick up the phone and seek advice. A partner should never hesitate to call a client and flag up forthcoming problems or opportunities. How else can you be sure that your business decisions are timely and well informed?
In the 11th and 12th centuries half a million pilgrims a year travelled on foot from all over Europe to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. In September 1992 Patrick Shanahan retraced their steps, recording his 500 mile journey in a series of photographs, some of which are reproduced on this website.