SUCCESS STORY – RMF RAISED MODULAR FLOORING

“RMF Installation & Services Ltd was established in 1989, by John Biggerstaff. Over the last 30 years the business has grown to be a multi million turnover and highly profitable sub contractor within the construction industry. In 2015, with decades of experience in the industry and after several years taking the lead running the company, Ian Jones and Simon completed a management buy-out.

The previous accountant had been with RMF since day one. They met the basic needs of the business but as they grew they realised they needed an accountant with an entrepreneurial and more dynamic approach. Following the management buy-out we decided to stay with them during the transition period as it’s not every day you decide to change your accountant. It’s a big decision, especially as the previous accountant knew the historical performance and everything that had gone before.

Over 10 years ago we began our RMF Eco range, this involves us working closely with demolition contractors to obtain raised flooring being removed from office fit out projects. We take the panels back we clean, randomly test and offer a full 25 year system warranty on re-installation. Since the RMF Eco range began we have diverted over 1million panels from entering landfill and we are the market leader in the re-use of raised flooring. During this period, we thought we could claim R&D tax credits although struggled to find the right advice and support in this area. We have subsequently found out we could have possibly claimed circa £50k in tax credits. As you can only go back so far, we’d missed the opportunity. It’s the hidden knowledge that can cost you money – ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ as the saying goes. This shook us and reaffirmed we needed to explore a change.

What appealed to us about working with Pentlands was that Elinor came in and we could see that she could offer a much more personal approach. She is more holistic, more global. She’ll look at lots of different elements of our business and you’ll fire a question and you’ll get a comprehensive response. And if she doesn’t know, she’ll find out and come back to you. For us, the apprehension we had to start with in making the change soon went and we’re pleased that we made the right decision.

Our management accounts are no longer only about the figures, it is much more strategic. We meet with Elinor quarterly and start the meeting by reviewing our successes, both business and personal.

The figures are now streamlined to headline information with graphs. Certainly, since Pentlands have been on board, we now analyse our orders and quotations and use this information to make decisions to grow the business. I suppose these may seem obvious but in your day-to-day business you can get lost in what to pay attention to.

With the guidance and support from Elinor and the team at Pentlands, we’re now approaching the growth and future potential of our business in a different way. We are looking to further invest in the development of our eco range of services by expanding our flooring refurbishment capabilities. Now we have greater clarity on both our strategy and our margins we are better placed to make larger commercial decisions like investing, upscaling production and additional recruitment.

Numbers are numbers. Pentlands have brought a whole different dimension for us. In that yes, Elinor is our accountant, but she is also a trusted business advisor. She lives, eats, sleeps, breathes what she does and she is more than happy to impart that information to her clients. She wants to see them do well. She invests time in us and wants the best for us and our future business success.”