Gordon William Currie

On 29th?December 2022 my Dad passed peacefully away. He was 93, would have been?94 in January and had spent the last two weeks asleep. It was a blessing and a relief that?he would now join Mum who had passed on mothers day earlier in the year. For the last couple of years he hadn't known who I was when I visited but he was comfortable and well cared for.

There was never a prouder?member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants . My Dad was from Stockport and he and Mum married and went?to the Isle of Man, where he trained and qualified on the Island. They returned to the mainland and settled in Blackpool where we all grew up.

Dad became a partner in the local firm Haworth Moore and co. This was before the days of the mega firms and Haworth Moore was a strong firm with a great reputation. The major client was Jaguar cars, which they audited up until it was nationalised in the 60s. I still have printed set of Jaguar accounts with Haworth Moore as the auditor. Jaguar started at Squires Gate in Blackpool before building a factory in Coventry. In an attempt to keep the client Haworth Moore opened a Coventry office but this wasn’t successful and closed. One lesson my Dad told me, which I ignored to my cost more than once, was don’t bother with multiple branches. He had visited the Coventry office and believed that the major achievement there was buying a lot of expensive desks!

One early memory was in the 60s, my Mum and Dad were horrified by the growing thalidomide scandal which affected some 10,000 children. My dad returned home one evening even more angry that having agreed compensation amounts, that under the regulations at the time the payments would be taxable. Compensation often seems an inadequate word and never more so than in this case. Later that week he came home and said he had devised a way for the payments to be tax free. Not knowing how to use this he called the Daily Express in Manchester and talked through his idea. They said they would check with their legal department and call back. I can remember waiting with him for the call. They called back and confirmed that his plan worked and would run the story that week. My Dad's only stipulation was that his name could not appear anywhere in the article. I often think back to that today and how the profession has changed, we now see any achievement being pushed into the media minute by minute!

Haworth Moore was based on Abingdon Street in Blackpool above the market. I used to look forward to going, mainly because there was, what seemed liked an enormous toy shop a few doors down! In the 70s they bought a freehold office on Caunce Street on a corner with traffic lights crossing. This was in the days when Chartered Accountants were unable to advertise under the Institutes regulations. My Dad had spoken with the Institute to agree the size of the lettering permitted on the building. In the end it was a standard brass plaque next to the door!

The firm was growing and towards the end of the 70s the four partners all bought identical new Volvos. From memory the total cost was ￡16,000 for all four. My Dad was paranoid about what the clients would think and decreed that that couldn’t all be parked on the forecourt at the same time! Again how times have changed .

I had left University wanting to be a stockbroker and my Dad suggested I should get a “proper” qualification to fall back on. Jan and I lived in Leeds where I spent 3 years and a week at Peat Marwick Mitchell, qualified and went to join a stockbroking firm in Manchester. Peats had recently announced they were not moving beyond audit, tax and consultancy and would never go into corporate finance because of the conflict with clients. My Dad had never said come and join Haworth Moore but I believe years later he was keeping a seat warm, and he retired soon after I went to Manchester. I don’t think I would have cut it in private practice in any event.

Haworth Moore, now Champion, still look after some of our companies and some of the staff can recall my Dad and often quote him. He had a lot of sayings which stuck with me, “look after your clients and they will look after you", "do what is not just right but also what is seen to be right", and one that often resonates, "it's not difficult to make money if you don’t care how you make it".?????????????

In all my years in my career I have never met a professional I had more respect for. Gordon William Currie.??