North West festive focus: Andy Stevens, ICS

As the North West’s business leaders tie the bow on a frenetic year and prepare for a hard-earned festive break, Bdaily North West has asked movers and shakers in the region to give their verdict on 2016 and tell us their hopes and fears for the new year ahead.

Up today is Andy Stevens, head of marketing and sales at accountants ICS, who gives us his views on the last 12 months and reveals what goodies he’s hoping to find under his tree.

What are you most proud of achieving in 2016?

Obviously starting with ICS in August!

Which was your busiest month, and why?

We’re lucky in that every month is busy. The IR35 legislation changes have created quite a stir in the public sector, and particularly kept our head of risk & compliance busy, as we are the go-to source of information for the hundreds of recruitment agencies and contractors that we work with.

What are your thoughts on Brexit so far?

Whilst there are bound to be positive and negative impacts from Brexit, I believe that if you have a solid and adaptable business plan, and a good team, your business can survive and flourish regardless of this type of external influence.

There is uncertainty as to what the impact will be on the employment and recruitment market – will people be open to moving roles or look for security? Will businesses suspend recruiting new staff? Luckily we work with contractors, recruitment agencies, SMEs and larger corporations and can adapt regardless of how the landscape changes.

Since compliance is a core value of our business, we often plan far in advance and find ourselves in a position to cope effectively.

What are you most looking forward to in 2017?

2017 will be a massive year for ICS. We are launching a rebrand, a new website and have a number of exciting campaigns launching. Our position as a compliance-first accountancy service provider will also mean that we will be busy supporting clients through the legislative changes that are planned – something that we thrive on.

We also plan to scale up our SME accountancy offering, which means we will get to work with an even wider spectrum of business types.

What will be your biggest obstacle next year?

Inevitably the changing IR35 legislation is set to be a huge talking point next year. The changes will come into play in April 2017 and there are whispers that the legislation will be introduced initially to the public sector, before being rolled out to the private sector at a later date.

However, we’re thinking of the legislation reforms as a challenge and an opportunity, rather than an obstacle. We’re pulling together our many years of expertise when it comes to working with public sector contractors and we’re creating compliant solutions.

What’s the outlook like for your sector over the next 12 months?

We operate within a number of sectors, but from a position of compliance and care, we’re confident that we can support our clients from all sectors through their challenges and opportunities.

Tell me about your staff Christmas night-out

Our Christmas party will be held at Midland Hotel in Morecambe. It will obviously be a very sensible, low-key event with absolutely no embarrassing dancing… !

What’s the best date in December to put decorations up? How early is too early?

Our first decoration went up on 30th November – it was my fault as well. They go up early in our household as we have two young children, so I thought I would inflict the same on my colleagues!

What are you hoping to get from Father Christmas? What’s your Tracy Island/Buzz Lightyear this year?

My present of choice would be a Google Pixel, but I have a feeling I may have to make do with the standard bottle of whiskey, vouchers and socks – which is fine too I guess.

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