Bruce Group Ltd

What is the main business challenge you face?

• We have had 2 main challenges over the past few years. The first is maintaining access to capital, in order to continue to acquire new units to keep growing our business. We have been fortunate to have an excellent relationship with our bank, so we have been able to continue to borrow for the right opportunities. The second challenge, is the decline of the traditional local pub. Our units are now much more food driven, or have another specific focus, such as our live music venue or our sports bar. In Edinburgh, our units are very much city centre based. We are continually looking at ways to improve our offering, as it is a very competitive market and bad operators don’t survive long.

How did the company get started?

• We met through Scott’s brother. I (Kevan) had just sold a call centre business which I had built up and was at a bit of a loose end. Scott was running and managing pubs after leaving university. With Scott’s knowledge of the industry and a bit of the capital I had from the business sale we were able to team up and get going. The rest, as they say, is history.

What were you looking for in an accountant before finding One Accounting?

• The business had been growing pretty quickly and we needed an accountant who could help us keep an eye on the trading per- formance throughout the year. In our business, it is easy for a unit which has been trading well, to suddenly hit a bad patch. If you don’t take action quickly, it can really put a hole in the profits. As with any accountant, we were also looking for a firm which could help us save tax wherever possible.

Why did you choose One Accounting?

• As I said, we wanted a firm who could help us keep track of the business performance throughout the year, not just at the year end. They impressed us with their knowledge of management accounts and assured us that they would be able to give us management ac-counts on a unit by unit basis.

Do you feel the services One Accounting provides have helped with your business growth plans?

• Very much so. As I mentioned, we have an excellent relationship with our bank. In part this is due to us giving the bank accurate, believable management accounts. One Accounting prepare these for us. We get quarterly management accounts, but One Accounting also set up a weekly forecasting tool for us. We plug in our sales and wages costs and it gives us a pretty accurate picture on a week to week basis of how the business is doing. This is invaluable in spotting problems early and taking action on them.

What is the main service you have benefited from?

• The management accounting service has been fantastic. However, they have also helped us with tax planning. From a personal viewpoint, they have recommended some actions which we have followed which have allowed us to maximize the use of our personal tax allowances. They also introduced us to a third party firm which produced a capital allowance claim which saved us in the region of £60K of corporation tax. This freed up cash to invest in the business.