Welcome to... Steve Preston

The culture is the easy answer to this one. But in addition, the direction of travel of the firm seemed to align nicely with my own. There appears to be a great mix of opportunity, challenge and development that became very apparent through the interview process, and which I’m delighted to say has been my experience to date since joining in January. We have a strong team in a challenging market which shows just how well the culture works.

I started my career at BDO in Leeds as a graduate, and stayed there for 15 years working on a mix of clients including full list, AIM, international and large corporate. I then made the leap to Armstrong Watson looking for something a bit different at that point in my career. Here I quickly moved up to partner and became the head of a growing Manchester office. That role offered plenty of leadership challenges and learning opportunities which form a large part of the partner I am today. After four years there I made the positive step to Saffery, and back over to Leeds where I’ve spent most of my career.

I have always been in audit and I expect I always will be! I do still enjoy audit and the challenge, judgement and variety it brings on a daily basis. I’ve taken an interest in real estate throughout the latter part of my career and will be aiming to bring in additional work to build on our already successful sector focus. Aside from real estate I focus on large corporate, being listed, private equity backed or owner managed.

Plenty of memorable pieces of work, but the one that always sticks in my head is the signing of two listed entities going out on the same morning. I was an audit manager at the time and the whole team worked all night to get it signed and wrapped up before the announcement went out. Ultimately it was the people, the team and the pulling together that made that experience one of my most memorable, rather than the audit work! Working in great teams with great people is ultimately the reason I choose to stay in this role.

Essentially anything that involves exercise. I’ve only recently hung up my 11-a-side football boots but still manage to find the time for tennis, cycling and running, along with a recent love for indoor climbing.