Ben Smith

Hello, I’m Ben. I’ve worked with Ecovis since 2006 and am proud to have been a Partner of the firm since 2015, when I was inaugurated on our company away day in Barcelona – an away day I’ll never forget! In my 15+ years with Ecovis I’ve focussed closely on the growth of our Outsourced Business Services team and have seen many changes to the industry – mostly for the better!

I’m specifically interested in areas of Financial Markets, ESG and Tech. For my sins, I also manage the technology side of our own business and have been privileged to hold the founding position of Chairman of the Ecovis International Technology Taskforce. I also sit on the advisory board of the Alternative Accountancy Strategic IT group and regularly attend the ICAEW’s mid-market tech forum.

Before joining Ecovis, I worked in the Audit team of PwC, based in their Gatwick Office focussing on mid-market clients. Prior to this, I worked for a B2B software developer in Paris, which was a great experience! I’ve also spent time on secondment working in industry, notably in financial services and insurance businesses.

I try to help our clients in so many ways! “Every day for us something new,” as the lyric goes! On Monday, I could be helping to put a new accounting system in. On Tuesday, I could be helping with a business valuation for an option scheme. On Wednesday, it might be a complex international consolidation. Whatever the day is, I’m always enjoying talking to our clients, hearing about their challenges and opportunities, and doing what little bit I can to help them make their businesses even better. I’d like to think this human, straight forward and no-nonsense approach adds value in itself, notwithstanding the technical and financial improvements we are helping to deploy.

When asked what I enjoy about my role and working at Ecovis, my answer is undoubtedly ‘the people’.

I love my job, who I work with and who I work for. I feel very lucky to work for a company like Ecovis and with the great people we have here.

People always talk about the ‘culture’ of working life at Ecovis and how we have a unique approach to doing a brilliant job, whilst still managing to find time for each other…and for fun! The pandemic has challenged this, but I think we’re coming back stronger for it and it’s always a point that our alumni reflect on when we meet up.

And then there are the clients. We work with some brilliant, exciting and vibrant businesses with wonderful people at the helm. It always feels good to give excellent advice and, when you get do it with a businessperson you’ve built strong professional and personal relationship with, it makes it all the better.

What’s your perfect Saturday?

My perfect Saturday would see me head out for a nice early morning seaside run with friends before going sailing with my kids at the local sailing club, and then recouping the lost calories over a couple of pints of Sussex Best in the bar (ideally with Aston Villa on in the background!). I love cooking so we’d then head home, cook up a storm and have friends over for drinks and games. Perfect!