Medium firm of the year: Sobell Rhodes

Each week the staff and partners of Sobell Rhodes assemble for what has come to be known as their “Awesome Monday”.

Essentially a brainstorming meeting, the Awesome Monday meeting was one of a series of initiatives designed to reinforce to staff what has become one of the firm’s biggest strengths: teamwork.

It’s no coincidence Sobell Rhodes' website has a picture of staff holding up the firm’s logo. It’s also not surprising then that 98% of new clients come from personal recommendations and referrals.

Judges praised the firm’s teamwork ethos, after deciding to award it Medium Firm of the Year.

“The ethics of the firm came through loud and clear. Real team working and very clear on what they did well and developed some interesting profit centres,” the judges said.

Sobell Rhodes believes supporting clients means more than just giving them a good service. In the past year the firm has run four anti-recession workshops. The company also boasts that of its 700 clients, only two have been forced out of business in the past year.

It also benchmarks its clients results against their respective industries and founded its own professional organisation of 50 member firms from across the country.

While some firms struggled, in the past year Sobell Rhodes saw profits per partner jump 24%. New profit percentage on fees increased from 41% to 46% and non-core value added services jumped by £275,000.

EMPLOYEES ARE OUR STRENGTH

Sobell Rhodes prides itself on its people. In its submission, the firm describes its employees as its “main resource” and said it has invested in training and development. Sobell Rhodes' Continuing Professional Development training group trains more than 40 firms and more than 900 delegates attended its course last year alone. Every six months partners are taken on a stay-away day which feeds into the company’s annual strategy, which is then shared with the whole Sobell team.