Multi award-winning chartered accountancy firm Milsted Langdon can add another trophy to its cabinet as Chris Downing won his category at the AccountingWEB Practice Excellence Awards 2014 on 6 November.
The Business Innovation manager was shortlisted in the Technology Champion section of the awards which attracted entries from some well-known and less well-known faces across the profession, ranging from sole practitioners to large firm specialists and several entrants who had written their own software. With a variety of characters to choose from, Robert Lambden, managing director of the category sponsor Online50, captured the essence of the Practice Excellence philosophy when he commented: “A champion is someone who fights for those who can’t fight for themselves. We’re looking for people who have really taken hold of technology and used it for the benefit of their firms and their clients.”
Chris’ entry was supported by glowing testimonials such as Milsted Langdon client Brady George, who praised his “fantastic” reporting system: “He promised a value for money and bespoke solution combining Sage and Excel. I doubted him. He delivered; for that I am truly grateful. His fresh approach and application in the dark arts of Excel created a radical mindset change in how we view our business. His charts are striking and informative; one such report engaged a new credit control procedure which halved our debt collection period.”
As the person responsible for growing Milsted Langdon’s Business Innovation department, Chris has not only helped clients monitor and improve their performance in real time, he also created many of the firm’s internal KPI dashboards. Undoubtedly, Chris’s capacity to “engage and empathise with users from every level of an organisation and demystify complex IT lingo” has been key to the success of his team. The time saved by the tools he has built has been re-invested to extend the budget available for advisory and business coaching for the firm’s clients.
Speaking after the presentation, which was held at London’s Royal Mint Court, Chris said: “It’s such an honour to win the award for Technology Champion of the year. I’m so happy and it’s humbling that my work has been recognised by such acclaimed individuals; thank-you very much.”
Milsted Langdon has previously won the UK’s Best Large Practice at the AccountingWEB Practice Excellence Awards and is the only practice to have won the award for three consecutive years.
This was the fourth year of the awards, which were judged by panels including the AccountingWEB editorial team, experts and representatives from SAP business partner sponsors Ascarii, Codestone, Sapphire System and IIS, plus technology champion sponsor Online50.