www.ceotodaymagazine.com Richard Kleiner CEO & Managing Partner Gerald Edelman What is Gerald Edelman’s philosophy and top priorities towards its clients? Gerald Edelman’s philosophy is to think beyond compliance and even beyond accountancy. We aim to challenge the very definition of an accountant and invite businesses to ‘ask us anything’, because our vision is to be the first port of call for all businesses. In my experience, businesses today want creative solutions, new ideas and memorable experiences. Therefore, our focus is to always surpass the expectations of our clients and to add real value to their businesses. One way we do this is to encourage clients to think without limits and challenge them to achieve greater success. The Gerald Edelman team also has an ethos to deliver genuinely exceptional relationships, experiences and advice. We’re in the business of real relationships and therefore our priority is to ensure our clients (and our team) feel valued and supported throughout their journey with us. As a Top 100 Firm, to what would you attribute the success that you’ve seen? I attribute Gerald Edelman’s success to the forward-thinking nature of the team and our overarching desire to never stand still. The market is changing; technology is automating much of the compliance work. This has meant that we are experiencing an increase in pressure on fees and a change in client expectations – and rightly so. Richard Kleiner became a Partner at Gerald Edelman in 1986, aged just 27, and was appointed CEO in 2007. Since 2007, Gerald Edelman has grown considerably, increasing its income by 95%, expanding out of London, gaining four new Partners and doubling its employees (80 in 2007, 160 today). Richard tells us about the inner workings of Gerald Edelman and the work that contributed to it becoming a Top 100 Firm (Accountancy Age: Top 50+50 Accountancy Firms 2018). Although Gerald Edelman stems from a traditional accountancy practice, today, we do not identify ourselves in this way. Accountancy as a term is so limited and does not adequately describe or do justice to the role we have with our clients. We provide support with so much more. Instead, we describe ourselves as a business’s “first port of call”. Whatever a business needs, we can help, or we know the people who can. Gerald Edelman: A Top 100 “Accountancy” Firm www.geraldedelman.com 74 BUSINESS SHAPERS
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