Mark
Brown

WHO I HELP

SMEs. Family Businesses. Owner Managed Businesses.

HOW I HELP

Annual accounts (Limited Company, LLP, Sole Trader and Partnerships). Management accounts. Bookkeeping. VAT returns. 

SECTORS/SUPPORT

Farming. Hospitality. Healthcare. Manufacturing. 

“KNOWING MY CLIENTS SO WELL MAKES ME A BETTER ADVISOR.”

Mark is a Business Advisory Manager based in Glasgow. He leads and coordinates both existing and new clients within the team, and has detailed knowledge of legal firms, medical practitioners and farming clients. 

“For me personally, an ideal relationship with a client is about having that regular contact, and even more so having that face-to-face contact which I feel is really important in developing the trust that’s so crucial. 

I’ve been working with the majority of the clients now for best part of 20 years at both accounts senior and manager level which means I have already built up that relationship over those years with those clients. I know their stories, hopes, worries, both financially and often on a more personal level but being able to draw upon that relationship and take into consideration all that information helps me to be the best advisor I can be to my clients, and be someone they know they can trust and rely on for solid advice as well as expert knowledge.” 

BENEFITING MY CLIENTS IS ITS OWN REWARD 

“For me, the most satisfying part of my job is when you assist and advise a client and it clearly benefits them in a tangible way. Knowing that you’ve had such a direct positive effect, that you’ve eased their stress in what can be really difficult, demanding situations, that giving them peace of mind, and helping them financially is all absolutely its own reward.” 

GETTING TO KNOW PEOPLE

“Another aspect of my role that I find really enjoyable is just meeting and getting to know so many different people both clients and colleagues. I find it really easy to get on well with people; I think people can always tell when you’re a genuine, authentic person.  

Getting the chance to work with so many people is fantastic, and with the expansion of our team and the course that AAB has set in terms of its own growth and various mergers and acquisitions, the opportunity to get to know more clients and colleagues will only increase. 

GREATER ACCESS TO MORE SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE

It’s also great to know that the more AAB grows, the wider our pool of expert knowledge and specialisms will be. Whereas before, if a client had a question about something extremely specialist, we might have had to outsource that work to someone with that specialised knowledge whereas now we can simply contact a colleague that we know has that necessary specialist understanding.” 

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION

“I believe that clients might be more likely to come to you with a small query they have in an email, which they may never have otherwise mentioned if they felt it was too insignificant to warrant a face-to-face meeting, or even a phone call. Often those small queries are more important than they seem, so that’s definitely a positive outcome of having a larger range of options when it comes to efficient communication.” 

SEEING THE WHOLE PICTURE

“There is a lot going on; on top of managing my own clients’ affairs to the highest quality, there’s regular deadlines, and of course, things changing pretty consistently in business, so there’s plenty of training sessions to keep up with new systems and software. It’s obviously also crucial to keep up with changing legislation as well, and a significant part of my job is doing everything I can to support and guide my team to becoming the best they can be for both themselves and for the team.   

It also helps with being proactive, as it allows me to see where certain things should be put in place to avoid potential issues or problems, or to see where certain processes can be streamlined or made simpler. I’m grateful that our team is so adept at this – we’re very solution oriented.”