Laura Herbert

Director

FCCA

My experience

When I left school I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and, after a life changing experience, it made me realise I needed to think about my future career plans. My first experience of the accounting profession was when I started working for a small firm of Accountants in 2005. I really loved the work and was relieved to have found something that I really enjoyed and was good at, but at the same time realised that to progress my career I had to move to a bigger firm. I started work with Whitley Stimpson in 2006, qualified in 2011 and became an equity Director in 2016

In the time that I have spent in the profession I have gained considerable experience in a wide variety of fields including personal tax, accounting, corporate tax and auditing, together with numerous ad hoc projects. The range of individuals and businesses that I have dealt with is vast including building subcontractors, private tax clients, SME’s right up to companies with complex international group structures.

Describe what you do at Whitley Stimpson

I am a main board director and equity shareholder in Whitley Stimpson. As well as heading up the Bicester office, I’m jointly responsible for the firm’s compliance with one of my co directors and also oversee the training in two of our four offices. As part of my training remit, I play a lead role in the development of the Whitley Stimpson team.

As well as looking after my own portfolio of clients, I support and lead my managers with my technical knowledge and board range of experience.

Why Whitley Stimpson?

Our clients are the central focus of all we do. Every client is different so it’s important that we take the time to listen and understand them, their business and their individual needs. We believe Whitley Stimpson are pretty unique in the marketplace in that we are small enough to give our customers a personalised service but big enough to be able to provide a whole array of specialisms when our clients need them. I’m proud to be part of a firm that employs such talented people with a wealth of expert knowledge.

What matters to you?

I have high standards and a passion to be the best. Thankfully, Whitley Stimpson shares this value. It is important to me that all staff have quality training and are given the opportunity to progress their careers to a level that they strive for – there are no ‘glass ceilings’ at Whitley Stimpson! I really like being an owner of an organisation where there’s a willingness to listen, connect and share ideas for the benefit of the firm and it’s clients.