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Beaconsfield
+44 (0)1494 840 334
Synergy is a team of building services consultants that specialises in electrical and environmental systems.
The business, which is based in Ascot, Berkshire, was founded in 1999 and has grown steadily, becoming a trusted service provider to prestigious brands such as Sainsburys, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Amazon and Primark.
Synergy was introduced to Harwood Hutton when one of the founding directors, Steve Little, decided it was time to exit the business. Fellow director Simon Hunt takes up the story:
“Our previous accountants had looked after us very well, from the inception of the business. However, with the change of business structure and share transfer strategy, we needed to appoint accountants with the appropriate expertise.
“Our relationship manager at NatWest suggested we talk to Harwood Hutton, and we had a very positive meeting with one of the directors there, David Jones. We were delighted to appoint Harwood Hutton thereafter as our new accountants and payroll bureau.”
No sooner had Harwood Hutton taken the reins then the first Covid-19 lockdown was upon us.
“We joked that Steve must have had a crystal ball in timing his exit from the business! We were just about to enter a time of significant change for the business and the world as a whole. It was also an incredibly busy period in terms of delivering the required service levels to new and existing clients and it was at this point David Jones suggested we talk to his colleague Tom Gooder.
“Tom, with all his banking experience, was a reassuring presence, helping us to understand the potential impact on our cashflow and forward strategy and advising on our approach to the furlough scheme.
“He was our conduit to the banks and he played a vital role in helping us to secure a CBILS (business interruption) loan, although, ultimately, we didn’t have to touch it.”
The size of Synergy’s team hovers between 20-25 depending on projects in the system, and annual revenues were around £1.8m in recent years. Encouragingly, the business has emerged from the Covid hiatus in good shape and is poised to post turnover in excess of £2m.
“Thankfully, we decided a few years ago to diversify away from our core work in the food retail sector and have developed a diverse range of clients across many sectors. However, we were grateful to see the resilience of food retail during the pandemic,” said Simon.
“We’ve taken on projects in residential, commercial and education sectors and we’re benefitting from continued maintenance work that’s required across the property estates of many of our clients: updating the existing M&E (mechanical and electrical) services and helping clients meet their environmental targets.”
Simon feels the business is in good hands with Harwood Hutton and he likes the fact that so much expertise exists under one roof.
“I have a pretty good understanding of the numbers that make us tick but I know we can rely on David Jones and his team to keep us up to speed with any important changes that might affect our business.
“It’s a very professional set-up and we look forward to taking our business to new levels with Harwood Hutton alongside us.”
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