- "In the last 20 years our business has changed considerably…and as the focus of our business has changed, Bird Luckin have moved with us."
Alex Tanner, George Tanner (Shalford) Ltd - "Bird Luckin has looked after us incredibly well for over 60 years, they are pro-active and innovational - meeting all our needs to help us achieve our aims."
Richard Stubbings, Cliffords Limited - "I can honestly say that Bird Luckin are the best firm of accountants and auditors I have ever dealt with - and I don't say that lightly!"
Colin Webb, Walthamstow Stadium - "It's important for us to know that we will always be able to contact the right people to give us the right advice and support."
Jane Bennett, Bennetts Funeral Directors - "Although we deal mainly with one Partner … we also know that if we need to contact someone else who is a specialist in another area, we can get the advice we need quickly and easily"
Jeremy Ruggles, J.S. Wright & Sons Ltd - "Bird Luckin got us to a stage which would have taken us months - if not years - to reach on our own, and they got us there in a matter of weeks"
Matthew Sullivan, SNC Ltd - "You can be a good accountant, but if you don't have an understanding of the industry it can be very difficult. "There are two or three people we have regular contact with at Bird Luckin who know our business well, and it makes a difference.""
Robert Church, W A Church (Bures) Ltd - "The work which Bird Luckin has done for Boddingtons over the past few months has helped shape our future direction for the better."
John Warner, Chief Executive, Boddingtons Ltd - "Bird Luckin has acted for us since our inception 10 years ago. They have a very 'can do' yet highly professional attitude - we are very appreciative of their support and advice over the years."
Marlon Fox, Outlook Property Ltd
Measuring employee effectiveness
If you want to improve your profitability you need to measure employee performance regularly, using effective standards of measurement.
Some activity, such as production work, is relatively easy to measure, but other activities are not. How do you measure the effectiveness of your secretarial or accounting staff, your graphic designer, or your IT manager? One way is to agree performance standards or quality of service criteria with them and review these on a regular basis. When setting such standards, however, bear in mind that inefficiencies in these areas often arise from not working smartly rather than not working hard.
Quality
Whoever you are measuring, it is important to consider quality as well as quantity. A production line worker might be achieving high output figures but skimping on quality, a secretary might spend hours filing but have an inefficient system, and a firm partner might be clocking up chargeable hours but producing little in the way of client satisfaction. Performance statistics are not much use if they conceal inefficiencies that will reflect badly on the bottom line in the future.
Profitability
Always keep an eye on profitability. Again, a production line worker's high output figures do not mean much if the goods he or she is producing are stacking up in the warehouse, a salesperson's figures are worth little if he or she is selling at narrow margins, and a partner's workload is not so impressive if he or she is concentrating on low value clients. You need to be smart to be profitable.