Sanchia Norris and the management team at Cambridge firm Peters Elworthy and Moore (PEM) have great ambitions for their tax department and its private client work. 'As a firm, we're looking to grow our tax practice and be the best regional tax practice outside of London: an indisputable, logical choice outside the Big Four,' she says.

The university town and its surroundings certainly have the potential to deliver old and new money clients: high net worth individuals, some from old established families and others who have made their wealth from innovations in technology - spin-offs from university research programmes. Not only that, PEM can name two-thirds of Cambridge University colleges as clients and has developed specialist capabilities to service technology, aviation, agriculture, medical research and property businesses.

For Norris, private client taxation work is the cornerstone. High net worth individuals, she believes, whether they are serial entrepreneurs or people managing estates that have been in their families for generations, need to know that their affairs are being looked after behind the scenes by a team of professionals whose technical abilities they can trust.

'The private client side of all businesses is very important,' she says. 'It's not just private individuals who have wealth. You have business owners and partners who have businesses to run. They need to know that their own affairs are being dealt with competently. They want a rapport with the person who's dealing with them and you need trust there, so they can focus on running their business.'

She is passionate about delivering a highly personal and bespoke service. 'First of all, I'm interested in people. Maybe I'm nosy,' she jokes. 'My focus has always been "Let's get the best for people and let's give the staff as much support as we can".'

Norris found her niche within days of joining the accountancy profession. 'Since I started, I've always done private client work,' she says. 'It's an area I love. It's hands-on; you get lots of involvement with the client and every day is different.'

She began her career at Fraser Russell in Chelmsford after her A-levels and found her way to the private client department on her third week. 'I spent a week auditing and a week on payroll and I hated both of them. It wasn't for me,' she says.

Shining example

The firm's private client department, on the other hand, gave her opportunities to get involved with clients at an early stage and an opportunity to shine. She had a supervising partner who was happy to give her challenging work as well as much-need support. 'I was given opportunities and experiences that you frankly wouldn't ordinarily let a junior close to. I had a vertical learning curve and a really good partner.'

She passed both ATT and Chartered Institute of Taxation exams while at Fraser Russell and after nine years she joined Shipleys in Saffron Walden, Essex. Shipleys soon made her a partner - a move that took her by surprise at the time. 'Tax is a very experience-orientated field, but I was told by one of my new partners that partner skills and technician skills were somewhat different. The team would support me until I had gained my own experience, but I had been demonstrating partner skills for some time.'

Norris was a partner with Shipleys for six years before PEM approached her in spring 2006, having decided that they needed an experienced hand to lead the private client work. Norris was persuaded by the firm's ethos, which she describes as very client-focused and forward thinking. 'You never really know if it's the right decision to move,' she says. 'but from the first day I felt at home. The ethos of the firm really matches my own.'

In many cases, she finds herself taking a back seat in terms of delivering technical advice. Her role becomes one of facilitator - co-ordinating the work of other experts both inside and outside the firm. PEM's partners and directors have the complementary skills to back that role.

She describes a meeting with a client she brought to the firm from her days at Shipleys. Talking to him, it became clear that his business was going from strength to strength and that he needed help ranging from audit advice to expertise on developing employee incentive schemes to help keep his key employees motivated. Norris called in PEM specialists in audit, HR, VAT and wealth management as well the firm's HR specialist and book-keeper.

'So what started as a private client meeting suddenly expanded. The client was thrilled. He now has other individuals dealing with all the different areas, but knows that I will co-ordinate it all. That's how PEM operates. Here, it's a real partnership and there's no possession of clients. It's all about providing the best service and advice.'

As well as introducing other members of the firm to clients, Norris has a solid network of professionals she can call on including bankers, stockbrokers and IFAs. And because locally female entrepreneurs are thin on the ground, PEM has made it its business to forge relationships with women professionals. Norris can pull together an all-female team if a client requires it. 'East Anglia has a lower percentage of female entrepreneurs than the national average. We believe this is sometimes because women perceive a barrier between them and the profession,' she says. 'Women have the same issues in running their finances and businesses, but afford different priorities and take longer to form trusting relationships.'

Norris believes that tax advice for the firm's owner-managed businesses in particular needs to fit the day-to-day realities of that business. 'Tax shouldn't drive decisions,' she argues. 'If you're in business, your decision should be commercial and the tax should be fitted around it in the most eff icient way possible. You decide what your goal is and then consider how you can achieve that tax-efficiently. I think that is forgotten by a lot of tax advisers. There are lots of opportunities to save tax that can be quite risky.'

Strike a balance

In the same way, she treads the inheritance tax planning minefield carefully. In an approach that she says will seem conservative to some, she focuses on helping clients ensure that they strike a balance between limiting the inheritance tax liability on their estate and maintaining a decent lifestyle.

'It's becoming more difficult to give inheritance tax advice. Historically, it was all about giving capital away. I take a very cautious view when advising clients. Give it all away - fine. But what if you need it? If you think of elderly people, they tend to be asset rich and cash poor. And as you get older your requirements for cash are going to increase. Perhaps you need more help in the home with gardening or ironing. Your costs just change. Who needs to be in a position where they are relying on their children?'

Family succession, inheritance tax and generational planning bring up plenty of sensitive issues. But Norris is not one to shy away. In fact, this is the area of work she loves the most. 'It's very personal and they have to really trust you,' she says. 'You're discussing the potential death of a client so it's a very delicate issue.'

Norris has been involved with four and even five generations of clients. In some cases, she will have met many of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. 'It is a balancing trick,' she says. 'You have to understand the individuals and their needs. You have to make sure that it is not the younger generations driving this movement of cash, because obviously it benefits them if the result is lower inheritance tax. You have to make sure that [clients] aren't divesting themselves and that we are leaving them sufficiently well covered so that their future can be the same as their present.

'I like to be involved with my clients. I like to know who they are as people. Lots of my clients are good friends and I don't think you can have a private client relationship without attaining something very near friendship. It is very personal. People will be telling you what's in their wills, telling you things that maybe members of their own family don't know. They have to have absolute trust in your discretion.'

To read the clients' view, click on the next page