RMT provides wide range of support

Oct 25 2007 by The Journal

AT one time, buying the family groceries meant visiting several shops. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker.

In those days, for the family business, buying in the services needed to keep things going was pretty similar. The lawyer, the accountant, the personnel adviser etc.

Not any more. Today, most of us probably do the majority of our household shopping under one roof.

RMT Accountants and Business Advisers is increasingly enabling its customers to do the same, by providing a comprehensive range of business advice and support from its purpose-built office on Gosforth Business Park. While the core business, developed over 50 years, is supporting owner managed SMEs, RMT has added some large, hi-tech and extremely entrepreneurial ventures to its portfolio.

For example, as well as roofing specialist Matthew Charlton, family owned since 1842 and currently using Roman techniques to restore the roof at Alnwick Castle, clients include Jesmond Dene House Hotel, Findus, UK Biometrics and Analytical Nano Technologies, a spin-out business from Sunderland University.

Stephen Slater, commercial services partner, said: “In order to attract and then service such a wide variety of clients, RMT has had to evolve and diversify to become much more than remote number crunchers called in each year to do the books.” Stephen stresses the importance of building upon the development of long standing relationships through which partners and experienced staff provide a range of support which could carry a company owner from start up to retirement.

He said: “Most small businesses are started by people who have an idea about a product or service and want to go out and sell it. So, not surprisingly, once the business is up and running, they get tied up in dealing with red tape and administrative issues. The majority of them are working too many hours, for not enough reward and spending too much time fire- fighting. For those looking for change I suggest putting time aside to sit down with fellow directors or partners and really look at what your business is and what you are trying to achieve. This is not easy so don’t be afraid to ask an adviser who understands the process to help you.

“Over the last few years the term outsourcing has become widely used. Today you can outsource virtually anything – from accounting to buying your fruit and veg. Buying your lettuce washed and ready to eat must be outsourcing at its most extreme. At RMT we’ve developed a portfolio of outsourced services for our clients – IT support, HR, health and safety and credit control to name but a few. Taking advantage of today's technology, we recently launched an internet-based service called Virtual Accounts Office – VAO.

“The idea, as for all outsourcing, is simple. You pass on the responsibility for the running of your accounting and financial systems – although you’ll have internet access to information 24/7 – and in return you free up time. Yes there is a cost but could you be doing something better with the time you are saving by not having to maintain your accounting records, produce your VAT return and try to work out how much money you are making? You might be surprised.”

There is a cost/benefit calculation to perform to see if outsourcing makes sense for a business; and the value of an owner/manager’s time to a company should not be underestimated. If that time could be better spent doing what they do best, then RMT has the back-up services to take away those extra responsibilities of management.

The corporate finance team is daily involved in financing deals, securing the capital which allows start up or investment and progress. Equally the people here can help plan and arrange the sale of a business for the owner looking to exit or retire. The tax team is there to minimise the amount of profits taken by the Treasury and RMT Financial Management (FM) is making an art of looking after personal wealth.

ACT, the IT solutions arm of the business is helping hundreds of firms to maximise the benefits technology can bring. Making it work for them rather than – as can sometimes happen – IT becoming a problem which pulls valuable resources away from other tasks.

HR was recently added to the portfolio. Helping clients recruit the right people, provide the right training, meet all the regulations and retain staff. Expert advice on employee benefits also helps here. And, should it be required, insolvency and recovery provided by RMT has kept many organisations afloat, allowing them to regroup and move forward successfully.

Stephen continues: “We make it our business to get to know your business and to add real value. It does not have to cost a fortune because our services are completely flexible. We’ll provide as much or as little support as you need. So if you feel you could make the business better if only you had the time to think through that idea and implement it, then pick up the phone and talk to one of the experts at RMT. You might find accountants are not as scary or crusty as you thought.”