Andy Poole

Working with Armstrong Watson on our financial forecast has been very useful over the past few years. They developed a very comprehensive model which allows us to track our performance over 5 years and plan future investments and impact on profit and budget accordingly. They customised it to our needs and have been responsive to our feedback – adding or amending things as needed.

Andy, Jordan and the team are easy to deal with, provide always a timescale and deliver their work on time. I would recommend them to other firms who are looking into improving their profitability and keeping their finances organised.

Andy Poole was instrumental in facilitating our board strategy day that enabled us to retain focus and agree on a clear vision for our business that is centred around delivering for our people and our clients.  The format of the day allowed a clear thought process that not only meant we focused on the important matters, but also that our decisions had an appropriate basis.  We now have a plan for how to deliver our vision and we could not have achieved that on the day without Andy’s facilitation and guidance.

We have worked with Andy over a number of years and recently he has presented a half day on financial training for partners and new partners.  This has been very well received.  We find Andy extremely easy to work with, very accommodating of any particular needs we may have, and his knowledge of this topic is outstanding.  One quote from a delegate having attended this training was “Very good course - highly recommend to those wanting to have a better understanding of a law firm's financial performance and potential ways to improve it.

Andy Poole and two Armstrong Watson colleagues led a day of Law South’s May 2021 conference, “Humanising the Business of Law”. This was online due to Covid but the delivery and the pace of the day engaged everyone successfully. Andy’s presentation was titled “Boosting profits and cash” and delivered to predominantly law firm partner audience of 60 delegates. Allowing for the usual range of perspectives in such a group, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 94% giving good or excellent for expectations being met. A typical comment was “Very clear, things we can see we do, as well as things we don't do quite so well!” The day gave a greater understanding of law firm finances, comfort in discussing financial matters with clients, improving client service and satisfaction and a bespoke set of actions to take away. We have subsequently used Andy for training courses for member firms and are happy to recommend him to others.

The training from Andy Poole is always engaging, informative and practical. He's an expert who really understands and relates to lawyers.

We spent an outstanding couple of days with Andy.   It has helped with our cashflow, with profitability and interestingly clients have accepted a new process and approach to fees.  The profit per file will be up.  It was worth the time and effort and is the most useful session I’ve been on in years.

Following conversion to LLP/ABS and putting in place succession plans we felt it was important that we partner with accountants with deep knowledge and experience of the legal sector to support our future strategy. We found this in abundance at Armstrong Watson and following a delightfully smooth transition we are already benefitting from a wide range of their services. Andy Poole and the AW teams provide proactive advice, are easy to work with and we would recommend them without hesitation.

I would like to acknowledge the huge contribution that Andy Poole made to the success of our business planning weekend in March 2019. Andy’s pre-meeting preparation, insight, experience and clarity of thought enabled us to achieve in just one working day what it would otherwise have taken us many working days to accomplish, over a much more protracted timescale. As a result of Andy’s overall contribution and willingness to challenge, we identified and unanimously agreed the strategic aims which will form the essential foundation of our business plan for the next five years. Andy made an invaluable contribution to our business planning process that was not only highly productive and outcomes focused but one that was inclusive and enjoyed by all who took part. I would recommend Andy to other law firms without hesitation or reservation.

We recognised that we could benefit from a more effective rewards programme for our staff and fee earners in order to reward and further encourage high performance. However, we were unsure about how to structure such a rewards programme in a way which would not have an adverse affect on morale within the firm or the culture of the firm.  

We were impressed by the knowledge, experience and awareness of Andy Poole and the specialist legal sector team at Armstrong Watson.  They really understood the likely impacts of potential rewards programmes and were able to provide a comprehensive report, suggesting a bonus scheme that was bespoke to our business, helping us to drive performance in our key areas.  The presentation of the scheme, suggested rules and financial awareness training delivered to our fee earners has had a positive impact on our business.

In 2016 we engaged the services of Armstrong Watson’s specialist Legal Sector as we sought to change our business structure to reflect our modern approach to Law at our dynamic and growing law firm. Andy Poole and the team were able to guide us through the various structure options to find the structure which met our business needs. The checklist approach used allowed us to delegate tasks to the appropriate people and track what needed to be done and when. 

As part of this process we were introduced to one of Armstrong Watson’s Financial Planning team who advised us on ensuring the business and its key stakeholders are adequately protected in the event of death or critical illness and continues to guide us through our pension planning including the use of commercial property. I actually enjoy talking with him and the rest of the Armstrong team!

We were delighted by the forward thinking joined up approach and look forward to our working relationship with the Armstrong Watson team continuing to develop.