“We started out with a controller who applied his number-crunching tricks to the information we provided him with and hey presto, what came out was mostly Greek to us.” This uncertainty did not sit well at all with David and his business partner: “Not once did we have the feeling that our then controller was the right person to help us set up a proper administrative accounts system, even though our business was growing and we were hiring additional staff and so on, which quickly added to the administrative complexity of what we were doing.” What was needed was no-nonsense advice on how best to tackle the administrative side of things and optimise the tax situation without overstepping the legislative and/or regulatory boundaries.

One of Basket Builders’ business associates urged David to get in touch with Koppel … and the rest, as they say, is history: “Never once over the past 15 years have I ever thought even fleetingly about switching financial advisers. I’ve always had the utmost faith in Koppel’s know-how and top-notch service provision. They have never let me down.”

Trust is what you need first and foremost when you decide to outsource major administrative processes: “Accounting, payroll records, taxes, it’s all in the hands of Koppel,” says David, who wouldn’t want it any other way: “As a business owner I have to remain focused on my clients and how to help them, on marketing my products, and so on. I see the administrative rigmarole as a necessary evil which I am delighted to delegate to a partner in business that knows what it’s doing.” And although David is well aware that he could theoretically take care of everything himself, he muses: “I’d definitely be overburdened if I had to look into every single bit of legislation or regulation myself, keep track of the many changes and gear the multitude of information to the wants and needs of my business. I see Koppel as my administrative life saver.”

Koppel also offers considerable added value when it comes to financial advice: “They always have their eye on the ball, so I don’t have to. They relay points for attention to me and warn me about pitfalls and risks.” Thanks to Koppel David has come to appreciate what accounting is all about: “No matter how complex the subject matter, it always makes perfect sense when Koppel explains it to me.” This became clearer than ever at the time David was selling Basket Builders: “I had Koppel to check out and perfect the contracts of sale. It was very comforting for me to have another pair of eyes look things over and alert me to potential legal hazards.”

It is in a private capacity as well that David relies on Koppel’s sound advice, as he explains: “It was Koppel which advised me to use my own company rather than a high-street bank as my mortgage lender. The days of flexibility among banks are over, but my own company can be as flexible as it decides to be. One of the major advantages of this set-up is that the interest I pay ends up with my own company rather than with a bank, which ensures a very attractive return on the capital I have invested.”

Koppel always knows how to help David put his cash to the best possible use including tax-wise: “Koppel knows exactly at which of my ‘clutch’ of companies my business earnings should be realised in order for me to benefit the most – without crossing the line, it goes without saying. This is just one example of the invaluability of their specialist know-how.”

Specialist know-how, pro-active advice, always on the ball: these things do not come at rock-bottom prices – but everything is worth its price, and as David puts it, “Koppel gives you value for money”.