Jack Hammett
The Alpinists: an exciting short series that showcases businesses achieving remarkable heights in their industries. Stannards, a progressive professional services firm based in Melbourne, provides accounting, taxation, audit, and advisory services to mid-market and high-net-worth clients across Australia. Recognised in the AFR’s top 50 accounting firms, Stannards has achieved above-market growth by expanding its core and emerging service lines, such as CFO advisory, M&A, and family office services. The firm boasts sector expertise in hospitality and food, medical, Not for Profit Organisations, retail, and transport & logistics.
Peter Angelini, the Managing Director of Stannards, is one of nine partners at the firm. He works alongside his father, Marino, other long-standing partners of the firm, and the partners who joined following the merger with TGS Partners in 2022.
Tell us about your route to becoming the CEO of Stannards?
I started my professional journey as an undergraduate accountant at Stannards, working part time whilst studying Commerce at Melbourne University. I originally wanted to be lawyer but was strongly encouraged by my father to stick with accounting! After a year of overseas travel, I worked at Deloitte for around 5 years before returning to Stannards in 2008 as a manager and to progress a path to partnership. In 2012, I turned 30, got married and became a partner at the firm. In 2022, we decided to merge with TGS Partners, a quality suburban firm that was led by some former colleagues of mine from Deloitte. I became CEO of the combined group in 2022.
Stannards has been around for over 50 years. It has had many forms, but my earliest recollection stems back to the mid-1980s when my father used to bring me in to the old St Kilda Road office on the weekends. The firm has progressed to a highly regarded boutique practice that now has over 80 professionals. Successfully executing on our next phase of growth will be a key focus of mine in my role as CEO.
Yourself, and many of the partners at Stannards, have had experience at the Big 4 and at other large professional services firms. How did some of those experiences shape Stannards?
Our firm is a mix of people with Big 4, larger boutique firm experience, and home-grown talent. My father, Marino, and Michael Shulman (Head of Audit) both worked at KPMG prior to Stannards as examples. There is no doubt that these experiences instil a strong work ethic and a high performing culture of excellence.
One of our key values is ‘ambitious but different’. This directly references that we want to deliver services reminiscent of a larger practice but want to do it our way. To elaborate on this, our staff are encouraged to provide a very ‘high touch’ service to clients. Our overhead structure is lower than larger firms, hence we can provide more competitive pricing and thus spend great resources on service delivery.
Importantly, we also believe in providing differentiated opportunities to employees compared to some of the more traditional professional services firms.
Stannards has an outstanding reputation with clients which is reflected in market-leading metrics for client tenure and retention. What makes Stannards stand out?
Our commitment to delivering quality service by being regularly available to clients is one of our key attributes. We like to think of ourselves as a ‘high touch’ practice. Speaking and meeting with clients is encouraged from graduate level up.
We see ourselves as being more commercial in nature and being more practical in the delivery of our advice to clients. Many partners, as an example, have owned and/or sold businesses outside of Stannards. Hence, we feel we can provide commercial advice based on real life practical business experience. This is critical as we advise many SME clients.
The accounting profession is seeing an evolving supply of talent and innovative ways to attract and retain people. In your view, why do people join Stannards?
Without quality people we don’t have a business hence why we dedicate significant time and resource into attracting and retaining talent. I often ask people why they joined Stannards or what differentiates us from other firms. There are many reasons but some of the common responses include:
- We provide a family-like culture, where we really care about and look after our people. Life throws up challenges, be it health issues or personal problems. We make it very clear to our people that we will support them through their ups and downs.
- We have an excellent client list and service some of Australia’s most well recognised SMEs and families across many industry sectors. This allows our staff to work on great accounts and interesting projects where they can enhance their business advisory, accounting, audit and tax skills.
- Our professional training program is first rate and fosters a learning culture that enhances career development.
- We like to have fun! We have a lot of hospitality-based clients, so we often support them by getting them to cater morning teas or host our 30 June or Xmas parties.
- We are a firm on the rise. We continue to grow and have ambitious plans to be Australia’s number one boutique accounting practice.
What have been some of the challenges in scaling a people-based business?
Attracting and retaining the best people. The market for talent is highly competitive and candidates have so many options to choose from. As we look to grow our practice, organically and through select acquisitions, our focus will be on ensuring we maintain our culture. Long before Covid-19, we always allowed for staff flexibility and ensured a ‘family-like’ environment whilst ensuring we provide A-grade service to clients.
Our successful merger with TGS Partners in October 2022 was a milestone in our history and demonstrates our ability to successfully scale and integrate M&A opportunities.
What are some of the initiatives that Stannards are busy with in technology?
We have a dedicated internal team focused on how best to use automation, AI and other technologies to drive better service delivery for our clients. For example, we are trialling an in-house tool that will automate mundane processes such as preparing BAS’s. With greater automation occurring in our industry, it’s becoming mission-critical to keep at the forefront of technological changes. Having the backing of a key partner like Pemba provides a great opportunity to stand out in the market.
Ultimately, we are a client-facing industry, so any technology that improves efficiency whilst enhancing the client experience can be good for the future of the professional services.
Why was it the right time to consider a capital partner and what do you think a successful partnership with Pemba look like?
We felt it was the right time for a few reasons. Firstly, looking ahead to the next generation of Stannards, an opportunity to offer our up-and-coming management team an opportunity to buy into the practice via a management equity plan.
Secondly, we have had solid growth over a long period of time, but the reality is that with Pemba we can “turbo charge” our plans. Already, we are unlocking new revenue opportunities, working on some key hires and looking at potential partnership and acquisition opportunities. Being able to leverage the network that Pemba has was also an important factor.
A successful partnership with Pemba will allow us to realise our ambition to become Australia’s leading boutique accounting firm. We can do this by offering a leading proposition to our clients, continue to attract and develop the best people and being at the forefront of new technologies.
Any final words of advice for founders considering private equity to support the next phase of growth?
If anything, have the discussion!
Private equity is sometimes seen as being scary, but this is often viewed from the wrong lens. Having a clear strategy and a partner alongside you to support and accelerate your growth plans is worth considering in my view.
