UHY GLOBAL AUGUST 2021 COGS AND WHEELS


35 YEARS OF TRUSTED ADVICE


Our regular Cogs and Wheels page looks at what drives a successful network. In this issue, we consider what the development of UHY's network means for clients today and tomorrow. In 2021 the UHY International network of independent member firms, celebrates its 35th birthday. The global accounting profession has seen much change in that time, and the next 35 years will provide different challenges. But beyond crystal ball gazing, it is hard to predict with any certainty how things will shape up for assurance, accounting, tax and business consultancy services, and those networks, like UHY, whose member firms deliver them. But if the past is any indication of the future, then it is in the foundations that have been built that onward success lies. UNITY AND COOPERATION For UHY, from the start, the word was collaboration. When the US firmUrbach, Kahn & Werlin formally joined forces with UK firm Hacker Young in 1986, the international association Urbach Hacker Young (UHY) International was born. The two firms had already been working together under a reciprocal agreement but this formal union sent a strong and enticing message to potential international clients – 'we are a team, and we mean business'. Thirty five years on that marriage has become a global family, and a growing one – UHY's independent member firms now form a network of over 8,500 professionals operating in nearly 330 business centres, supporting national and international clients across more than 100 countries. The team that meant business in 1986 is now The Network for Doing Business, a promise being delivered to clients and colleagues alike. A CULTURE THAT DELIVERS FOR CLIENTS In UHY'S formative years, from 1986, chairmen Steve Fischer (<i>pictured above, left</i>) and Frank Stansil, his successor, established the core values that still define the network today – professionalism, quality, integrity, diversity, innovation, international outlook and ambition. It is a set of beliefs that provides a blueprint of UHY’s culture as a global organisation. In a few carefully chosen words they express the kind of experience that our clients can expect in dealing with UHY or a UHY member firm, and set clients' expectations of our behaviour and attitude. The culture that has set UHY member firms apart from the competition for 35 years, will be the driving force for continued success in the future. THE NEXT 35 YEARS UHY's vision is to be clients' trusted advisors of choice.While we would like to believe this is true already in many of our client relationships, it is always for the client to decide, and our member firms will never be complacent. By living the values and engaging with the network's client-centric cornerstones of working together, growth, brand and quality, UHY member firms will continue to provide world-class client service. Services will evolve to meet changing regulatory standards, and changing client needs. By listening to clients, by adopting new technologies and innovative practice management, and by continuing to invest in the right people, UHY member firms will remain as flexible, resilient and adaptable as they have proved to be through the whole coronavirus pandemic, ensuring clients are fully supported. This means that despite the pace of change in all these areas, and whatever new disruption may come along, a nimble network built on strong cultural foundations will continue to solve client problems and add value through longstanding and trusted relationships. And the network will continue to expand geographically to enable the right client support in the right places. In 2056, who knows where artificial intelligence and big data will have taken us? Who knows if the world will have achieved a net zero carbon footprint or eradicated global risks? But however the next 35 years pan out, and whatever the challenges, there is every reason to suppose that for UHY, its member firms and most importantly their clients, an exciting future awaits.


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