I’ve never attended a 125th birthday before.
But this milestone for William Buck was worthy of celebration.
Longevity is rare in an evolving and highly competitive business world where organisations rise and fall with such regularity.
It was therefore with great pride that the Adelaide Office toasted this unique milestone at a gala event at the magnificent Adelaide Oval on Friday evening, attended by more than 500 clients, staff and friends of the firm.
Since 1895, William Buck has been changing the lives of our people and clients and making contributions back to our communities.
We’re now a group incorporating nine offices across Australia and New Zealand, 100 directors and a team of more than 950.
Our focus has been and remains on helping the mid-market to reach its full potential.
However, our firm’s journey has not been without its challenges.
There has been enormous change over our history, both from within our firm and in the wider national and global environment in which we operate.
The values upon which William Buck was founded have remained strong throughout these years, despite our growth and expansion.
We proudly remain locally owned and operated, but importantly, part of something bigger – our offices work with our William Buck colleagues across Australia and New Zealand, and Praxity globally, where it makes sense to do so – in what we describe as “the best of both worlds”.
When I think about the key factors behind business longevity, it comes down to 3 Cs: Clients, Culture and Community.
Client service mentality
As a professional services firm, we exist to make a positive impact on our clients.
We want to change lives for the better.
Being engaged as a trusted adviser is an earned privilege, and relationships are also about being there in the tough times, not just the good times.
For many businesses, the past two years have been extremely challenging.
In times like these, maintaining that personal connection is even more important in building a trusted and respectful relationship.
Culture is crucial
Equally, we wouldn’t have survived and thrived over all these years without an incredible team, and workplace culture.
We are a very diverse group of people at William Buck but we’re all striving to be the best version of ourselves, and that drives our internal culture.
As business leaders, there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing team members develop and grow as people, not just as professionals.
We get to see that every day and that’s pretty special.
Community matters
William Buck throughout its history has been a strong supporter of its local community and profession.
This has seen us support numerous charities and community groups, whether by financial donations or volunteering or pro-bono work.
Supporting local communities is something for which our staff are particularly passionate. To further this contribution, we are establishing a dedicated Foundation – a joint initiative of the nine William Buck offices across Australia and New Zealand, harnessing all the good work done by the almost 1000 employees across the Group, to provide even greater direction and drive to our community initiatives over the coming years.
Looking ahead
So, what does the next 125 years have in store?
We believe it is a future of immense opportunity.
We hold a very optimistic outlook for our economic prosperity and our way of life.
There’s a lot to be positive about for our clients, our team and our community.
Jamie McKeough is Chair of leading accounting and business advisory firm William Buck Australia and New Zealand and Managing Director of William Buck Adelaide.
