The genuine argument for a local firm is that you can sit in a room with them. That is worth something, and we are not going to pretend otherwise — some people think better across a table, and a difficult conversation about a tax bill is easier face to face.
What being local does not give you is better tax advice. Your accountant does not need to know your high street; they need to know your trade, your numbers and the rules that apply to them. A firm four streets away that has never handled your situation is worse for you than one two hundred miles away that handles it every week.
The way we work: everything runs through software you can see from your phone, questions go by WhatsApp, email or phone, and when a conversation genuinely needs faces we do it on video. Our city pages exist because people search that way, not because we think a postcode is a qualification.
If you genuinely want to meet in person, say so and we will arrange it — we have offices and we travel. What we will not do is charge you more for the privilege of being nearby, or pretend that a meeting you did not need was worth the half-day it cost you to attend.
One thing worth being straight about: we are not the right firm for you if you want somebody who will drop in unannounced, take a carrier bag of receipts off you at the counter and hand it back sorted. That is a real service and some people want it. It is not what we do, and you should know that before you fill anything in.
