The Client
Based in the beautiful village of Pitsford, J Sweeney Accountants Limited consider themselves a small but mighty accountancy practice with a family feel. Founded in 2016 they have a combined total of 50 years’ experience running accounts departments, completing practice accounts filings, tax planning and general accounting. Specialists in their field, they have represented over 700 clients from a multitude of sectors UK-wide.
The Challenge
To support their ongoing marketing activity and build their reputation and awareness in the local area, J Sweeney Accountants reached out to Goldings Communications to support them in entering a prestigious local awards programme – The Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards.
The Solution
After deciding to enter applications into the Professional Services and Apprentice of Year Categories, we undertook an in-depth discovery session to understand J Sweeney’s vision, values, USP’s and business objectives. In this session we focused on the specific criteria needed for both awards and the examples and evidence J Sweeney had to support their applications and position them as a strong contender in the competition. We also undertook a separate interview with their Apprentice Loren Barber to gain qualitative and quantitative information about her role, background, experience and personal qualities – everything that would make her stand out from the other entries.
J Sweeney Accountants also gave Goldings Communications responsibility for completing both entries and we worked together to gather all the required information and evidence needed for the specific entry criteria, submitting the applications alongside supporting documents into the first stage process.
The Outcome
Both applications were successful in being shortlisted and J Sweeney attended the prestigious awards ceremony alongside hundreds of other Northamptonshire businesses. Despite being up against very tough competition in both categories, we were delighted to win Apprentice of Year on the night.
It was clear to see the sheer joy and sense of achievement and delight at being recognised by a prominent judging panel on the night of the ceremony, in front of a packed room full of their peers and competitors.
The pre and post event publicity provided a further boost to staff morale, reputation and awareness raising, both online and in print, as they were celebrated and tagged by the event organisers and other finalists. J Sweeney also made the most of the promotional videos and finalist and winners’ logos to use across their own channels.
Joseph Skinner, Partner at J Sweeney Accountants said:
“It was unbelievable work you did for us and our apprentice Loren. There is no doubt in mind you will have had much easier clients, however the dedication was first class.
“Your hard work, clear understanding of what was needed and the obvious pride in everything you do shone through on our application and brought home our first award, and I hope there are many more to come.
“Goldings not only produced the exact requirements for an award entry, they went above and beyond multiple times to give us blog and press releases and tips and tricks for the future, there is absolutely no hesitation in recommending Goldings to business associates, friends, family and anyone that will listen.”
Boost to staff morale – Winning apprentice Loren said:
“I honestly didn’t expect to get through as I know there were lots of really outstanding applicants. I want to thank the J Sweeney team for putting me forward for the award, and for believing in me and trusting me with some really incredible client accounts. I feel like I have only just begun on this exciting journey, and I can’t wait to continue learning and developing with the company. They’re a fantastic accountancy firm to work for.”
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