Interview: Richard Trueman, Mitchells – ‘It’s about people, not numbers’

Richard Trueman

After more than 46 years’ senior partner Richard Trueman said goodbye to colleagues, friends and clients on Thursday 27 April when he retired from Chesterfield-based Mitchells Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers.

He joined the firm straight from Chesterfield School (now Brookfield Community School) in September 1970, two years after Mitchells had turned 100 and leaves a year before it celebrates its 150th anniversary.

Richard leaves Mitchells in the hands of fellow partners Tim Leeman, Andrew McDaid and Tony Hornsby, to spend time with his wife Sally playing golf and walking. He’s even threatened to take up cycling.

Having worked with an estimated 1,200 clients during his 46-year career, he has built up a bank of memories and good advice. Here, he shares some of them.

What made you choose accountancy and Mitchells?

I was very analytical at school and loved statistics which wasn’t really conducive to a career in sports journalism, which would have been my dream job. Accountancy was the obvious route for me and I was about to apply to Chesterfield Town Council to do my Articles, but a teacher at school was friends with a partner at Mitchells and knew the firm was looking for someone, so persuaded me to apply there.

What do you remember about your first day at Mitchells?

On my first day at Mitchells one of the partners sent me to Devon House, a newsagent on Glumangate which is still there today, to buy him 20 Players cigarettes. He was a prolific smoker and the air in the office was thick with smoke. His heavy smoking actually caused a number of arguments between him and the other partners before smoking in the office was finally banned in the ’90s, about five years before the government officially banned smoking in the workplace.

What has been the biggest change in accountancy during your career?

A young Richard Trueman

Without doubt, automation has made the biggest difference to accountancy. When I started my career, we were still writing everything in ledgers, an Apple was something you ate; a Dell was a secluded valley and a calculator was the person who could add up fastest in the office. I remember the day we got a calculator with a till roll in the office. It was a big talking point and was given to me to trial because I was the youngest.

What has been the most memorable moment in your career?

It’s hard to choose just one, but one of the most terrifying moments was having to do a complicated Capital Gain for Arthur Mitchell himself. That’s certainly something I’ve never forgotten.

Becoming a partner in 1979 when I was 28 was also memorable. Myself and the team all headed down ‘The Acker’ (The Aquarius) in Chesterfield to celebrate, which was the place to be back then.

I have also taken great personal pride in seeing members of the team at Mitchells achieve; Liz Fisher and Lisa Eyre are two that stand out for me.

What advice would you give to young people beginning their career in accountancy?

I have loved my time at Mitchells – all 46 years of it, and that’s because of the people. Working with great people has meant that I have always had fun at work… and that’s important. Work should never be about confrontation but about collaboration. I leave Mitchells with nothing but a warm feeling for all the staff.

For anyone working in accountancy, whether old or young, I would say to them to remember that it’s about people, not just figures.

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