So, Where Did It All Start?

SWATUK was established in 1976 by six firms of accountants throughout Devon and Cornwall with the aim of providing training to all the partners and staff. Over a short period of time the training group started to attract additional members. However, in order to achieve effective training and implementation the group needed to develop a standard system of documentation. On agreement from all six firms, common audit, accounts and tax indices and forms were written to support them. This system of documentation was the foundation for the range of manuals produced by SWATUK today.

When the new documentation was introduced in the late 1970s, questions arose about its usage. SWATUK therefore started reviewing files to ensure that it was being used in the most efficient way. From these early visits SWATUK developed the full range of quality control file reviews and practice reviews available today.

In 1984, the group began to expand to firms in Somerset, in 1990 through South Wales and then in 1991 they were joined by firms from East Yorkshire. The SWATUK group continued to grow and now stands at more than 120 member firms all of whom benefit from an excellent level of training, consultancy and technical support and group discount schemes.

As the number of member firms increased, so did the number of staff within SWATUK. In order to provide the personal service necessary for our clients in each region, SWATUK now has offices in Cardiff, Hull, Huntingdon and Plymouth, which is the head office. Furthermore, SWATUK strengthened it's profile in the London area by acquiring Pentagon Training Limited in 2005, and now runs one of the largest selection of courses in London from it's Russell Square venue. The team at SWATUK has now increased to 18 technical staff and lecturers and 16 administrative staff.

SWATUK has a client base of around 4000 firms across the UK who use us for training courses, consultancy, file reviews, manuals and other technical support.

During 2007 the directors of SWATUK completed a management buyout of the external shareholders of the company. The four executive directors (Mike Sturgess, Adrian Gibbons, Richard Brown and Vicki Banthorpe) along with the only other employee shareholder (Andy Holton) now own the company outright.

In 2008, SWATUK developed its client base through the acquisition of the consultancy-based firm "ACT".

Today, SWATUK is one of the largest accountancy training and consultancy providers in the UK. We have established an enviable reputation for providing the profession with a comprehensive range of high quality and practical products and support services.

SWATUK Ltd: Aims and Objectives

SWATUK's mission statement is to improve the economic well-being and quality of life of clients and staff. Alongside this it has a number goals, including:

• To develop SWATUK so that it is in a position to provide profitable services to any firm of accountants, anywhere in the UK
• To provide or facilitate as close as possible a 'one-stop' shop for the technical and practice management needs of small and medium-sized firms of accountants (whether through the direct provision of services, or via a list of recommended suppliers).

Turning to our membership, the objective of the SWATUK group is to provide you with three major benefits:

• Efficient and effective staff, which enables you to provide a high quality service and comply with the profession's regulatory regimes, whilst still remaining extremely competitive.
• The necessary support and technical expertise to enable you to provide a comprehensive service to your clients.
• A vehicle through which the limited resources of your individual practice can be pooled with others to produce the economies of scale normally only available to national firms.