A family business that is a member of Working Breakfast Market Harborough is celebrating making the shortlist for Employer of the Year in the Midlands Family Business Awards 2014.
Set up by husband and wife Carl and Clare Elsby, chartered accountancy practice Elsby & Co (www.elsbyandco.co.uk) is one of just five companies to make it through to the interview round which is being held in Birmingham on 16th September. The judging panel will consist of representatives from successful Midlands’ businesses such as Pukka Pies and Suncream Diaries as well as business advisory experts.
After the interview sessions, the judging panel will decide on a winner and two runners-up, which will be announced at the awards ceremony which is being held at Nottingham Trent University in November.
Elsby & Co work mainly with smaller owner managed and family businesses across the Midlands. The company was commended on the strength of their entry which highlighted the many initiatives that they have introduced to improve staff development. These include operating a staff bonus scheme which shares a proportion of business profits. Carl and Clare have also introduced a welfare scheme which includes wellbeing at work sessions, spinal health screenings, nutrition/lifestyle consultations and regular deliveries of complimentary fruit from a local farm.
“We see our staff as our most valuable asset and believe that it is important to support them in both their career and personal development, ” explains Carl. “Our wellbeing programme has helped us both retain and recruit high quality staff. We have also noticed that since introducing our health initiatives, staff absence and illness has reduced.”
2014 marks Elsby & Co’s most successful year ever and Carl feels that this is largely due to the company’s culture and ethos. He comments “It’s no coincidence that we now have the strongest and closest team ever. Our staff’s loyalty and high levels of job satisfaction feed back through to our clients and mean that we are able to provide the best possible service.”
Elsby & Co was set up by Carl and Clare in a bedroom of their Northamptonshire bedroom in 1993 after they were both made redundant. Elsby & Co now has over 24 staff plus an office in Leicestershire. Carl and Clare remain very much hands on in the day to day running of the business.
Elsby & Co offer a range of services including tax advice and planning, book keeping, payroll management and general business support as well as a business development service, designed to offer a more holistic approach to financial management. They also operate several business growth and networking clubs across Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.
