East Mids accountancy professional steps down after 42 years

Smith Cooper has announced that its longest serving member of staff, Peter Hargreaves, is to retire from the firm after 42 years.

Hargreaves will remain with the firm for the “foreseeable future” as a part-time consultant.

Having joined the organisation in 1976, Hargreaves has devoted most of his professional life to Smith Cooper. Qualifying as an AAT accountant in Birmingham, he relocated to Derbyshire, where he has worked in various sectors as a general manager at Smith Cooper’s Ashbourne office, providing tax, account and advisory services to his clients.

Hargreaves said: “In four decades, I have seen many changes both within the company and within the accounting industry. Smith Cooper has been a great place to work, and I have been fortunate to have enjoyed a long career with such wonderful clients. I’m glad that I will still be able to assist clients in my role as a consultant, whilst taking a step back and embarking on the next chapter in my life.”

Bruce Montgomery, partner at Smith Cooper in Ashbourne, said: “Peter’s commitment to the business has been exemplary, if sometimes unconventional. He has established a fabulously loyal client base throughout the 42 years he has spent with us. Outside of work, the dedication he has committed to charity is magnificent, and something that we all admire Peter for.”