For director Vaughan Harris, it’s been a very busy and exciting year at WK.
“It’s been great to build on the very successful rebrand we undertook last year and we’ve developed some real traction in some specialist service offerings. We’re thrilled to be working with some really exciting local businesses and through our video case study series, we’ve been able to showcase a small number of these during the year,” he says.
“A real milestone this year was the start of work on the new building and we’re certainly very excited about the pending move and the opportunities the new premises will open up for the way we work with our clients.”
“Winning the Tasman Xero Partner of the year was a real highlight and following this, we took a small but excited team from WK to XeroCon in Brisbane to celebrate and stay abreast of all the exciting developments in the the Xero and add-on space.”
“Through all this we’ve seen our fantastic staff do some really great things working for their clients and in their community this year and in many cases, whilst furthering their own academic or professional qualifications.”
“It’s been a really successful and enjoyable year at WK and with all the exciting developments ahead, we’re certainly looking forward to more in 2017.”
Here are a few of our highlights from the past 12 months:
In July, work got underway with the construction of our new building in Grove Rd, set to be complete around April 2017.
This is a big move for the WK team, after more than 35 years in the Scott St office, and we’re excited to have a more collaborative and transparent environment for both clients and staff going forward.
Once open, the three-storey building will feature an open-plan office for our 50 staff, a large cafe-style lounge area, two board rooms, and further smaller meeting rooms – which our clients will be welcome to use!
September saw us take out the Xero Tasman Accounting Partner of the Year Award, a massive achievement which recognised our commitment to going over and above for our clients and their businesses.
WK also received the main Partner title in 2013, and we have continued to do a lot of work during the past few years, ensuring our brand and technologies continue to evolve with our clients’ needs.
Xero offers leading innovations in the world of accounting, and to receive this award reaffirms our commitment to bringing clients the best in the business, we were stoked!
Following the announcement of the award, some of the team headed over to Brisbane for XeroCon South, a chance to get some insight into the significant advances Xero has planned for the coming 12 months.
Our team, among 2,400 accountants from Australia and New Zealand had the chance to learn about the key developments within Xero, accounting in general, and take part in some great business leadership sessions.
As the only Platinum Xero Partner in the Top of the South, this was a wonderful opportunity to keep ahead of the game and get a grasp of the innovative changes Xero has coming up.
Together with our friends at ANZ, Vintrace and blacksquare we also brought “Innovate” to Marlborough in November. This was a great opportunity to showcase the use and development of cloud technology, social media and modern marketing channels in the wine industry. Attendees gained some valuable insights and contacts during what was a highly informative session.
Of course, all of what we do at WK is about being able to offer our clients the best service we can, and provide them with the best innovations we can to support their businesses. During the year, we worked with the clients to produce some case study videos of how they built up their businesses.
Liz and Bradley, along with their team at Arbour, have spent the last 12 months setting up possibly one of the best fine dining restaurants in New Zealand:
Soren and Monique Eriksen turned a hobby into a hugely successful business, with 8 Wired Brewing Co.:
On top of all this, we’ve had staff members gain entry into the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and three members of the team, Julie Warburton, Jenna Gilbert and Laura Murphy were admitted as Accounting technicians. We’ve had staff weddings, babies, big birthdays and retirements – what a year!
Thank you to all of our clients who have supported us through this bumper of a year – we look forward to seeing you in 2017!