Accounted4 a firm with history dating back to 1955
Chartered Accountants History
We are proud of the rich history that the practice is built on. Over the years we have been fortunate to have had the services of wonderful people who have enabled it to grow and develop. Many fun times have been had and the Directors and team have always supported each other.
Where it all began
Jack Shannon came up from Ashburton to purchase Ted Littler's practice in late 1955. At that time Cambridge had approx. 5,000 residents and many small farm holdings of 50-150 acres. Cambridge Dairy Co, Bruntwood Dairy Co and NZ Dairy Co (at Pukekura) were all established manufacturing Dairy Companies. Accounting practices were a recent phenomenon in Cambridge in the fifties. Most businesses' accounting needs were serviced from Hamilton. Those who provided accounting services at that time were: Ted Littler, Carl Duignan, Roy Lorigan, Ken Allan, Brian Heaslip and Tom Hampshire.
Carl Duignan had taken over the oldest secretarial practice in Cambridge from Edgar James who did work for Drainage Boards, Federated Farmers, some farming and business returns. Ted Littler had employed Brian Heaslip who then started his own practice. John Ryan arrived on 1st July 1955 to join Duignan and Butts. Tom Hampshire was a delightful Englishman, Major Thomas Hampshire DFC ex Royal Flying Corp.
The legal profession was represented by Lewis and Jecks, Lundon and Pollock, Garrard and Kingsford (later Garrard and Osmond), Jack Clemow and Phil McDiarmid. Four Banks were in business although ANZ and National Bank were new to Cambridge. The Bank of New South Wales (Westpac) and Bank of New Zealand dated back to the very early years of Cambridge.
John Ryan remembers Jack as an outgoing person whose shrewdness gave “added value" to clients, particularly in the contracting field. He was very involved in the professional life of Cambridge and formed close relationships with other professionals.
Arthur Baker, Norm Todd, and Jim Ross were close Contracting clients. Jim Wallace (JD) also enjoyed Jack's personality as a client. JD was a director of Farming and Fellmongery Industries. This group of friends provided a large part of Jack's work in the early years of the practice.
Thanks to John Ryan for the above recollections.
Time moves on
As his practice grew Jack Shannon took on a partner, Bruce Fleming, until 1963 when Bruce left and Graham Wrigley joined Jack to form Shannon and Wrigley. Richard Edge and John Boone (who had worked in the practice since leaving school) became partners in 1973 and 1975 respectively.
John Landers joined the practice in 1976 and became a partner in 1982. Grant Calvert joined in 1984 and became a partner in 1990, at the time that Graham Wrigley was retiring. Martyn Steffert joined the firm in 2004, promoted to Associate in 2006, and became a Director in 2007.
In 2012 Richard Edge stepped down into a consultancy role as he phased into retirement. Forty-seven years after he joined the firm, John Boone also began his path to retirement in 2014. Also in 2014, David Faville, who had been an Associate, became the youngest Director setting the practice with four Directors.
In 2015, John Landers began his path to retirement and Kim Antonio became an Associate.
In 2021 Grant Calvert stepped down to a Consultancy role, Kim Antonio became the first female Director and Jamie Fisher was promoted to Associate.
Geoff Hurst became an Associate in 2019 and a Director in 2022.
Accounted4 currently has four Directors; Martyn Steffert, David Faville, Kim Antonio and Geoff Hurst.
Tools of the job
It was shortly after the relocation in 1985 that Hartley Computers became available to accounting practices (those were still the days before personal computers). The computers were installed in one room and clients work was coded and prepared for input into them.
As technology evolved personal computers became available and this was followed by Banklink and APS software all of which enabled Team Members to process Client Accounts to Partner review stage from their own desk.
As time moved on cloud technology was born and in 2012 the practice began its transformation to a Xero Partner practice.
Valuable team members
Over the years the Practice has been fortunate to have had the services of wonderful people. This has enabled the practice to grow and develop. Many fun times have been enjoyed and the Directors and Team members have always supported each other.
The future
The Profession is continuing to change and develop. International Accounting Standards are now becoming accepted. The proportion of female graduates has been steadily increasing. The business sector is relying more on the services provided by Chartered Accountants with the high standard of Ethics required. The tools of the job continue to develop rapidly, including Cloud Computing technology such as XERO. The “global village” via internet is changing the way things are done.
Setting the location
Jack Shannon started in a now demolished building next to the old Tudor Movie Theatre (now entrance mall to Prince Albert Tavern). About 1956 Jack moved to the Triangle Building above the Framery in Victoria Street. In 1969 the practice moved to a new building in Duke Street (next to the Fire Station). By 1985 the practice had again grown to the extent that a new building was required. Cambridge did not offer buildings of a suitable size to rent. A Lockwood building was constructed on the corner of Duke Street and Hally’s Lane which is the practices present location, albiet with substantial renovations.
The Rebrand
In 2013 the Directors believed that after more than 55 years successfully operating as Shannon Wrigley and Co, the time was right to refresh and revitalise the company name.
The decision evolved from many discussions regarding continuity of the strong core values the business has always upheld, the direction of the business into the future, and the desire for a generic name.
As a team, we also felt that we needed a name that would lend itself to be perceived as the innovative forward thinking, friendly company, which we are!
The service we provide is not just about the numbers, everything is taken into account and accounted for – your business and your life
We will support you with a personal integrated accounting and financial advisory service that takes everything into account, to enable you to make the best business and life decisions
When new clients come on board, they will be assisted by the Business Manager who will discuss and understand their requirements and put them in partnership with the right accountant or advisor who’ll match their needs, to ensure their interests are accounted for
We chose the colour green as our primary brand colour to reflect:
Peaceful environment that allows clear decisions to be made.
The complimentary colour grey, reflects ‘balance’, which contributes to everything being accounted for.
The history of Shannon Wrigley and Co as the main colour of its brand identity was green.
Health and growth of our business and people, and the businesses and people we work with.
Our rural community location.
The recognition of being a registered ‘Chartered Accountant’ as the same green is used in their brand identity.
Contact us
Physical: 30 Duke Street,
Cambridge 3434, NZ
Postal: PO Box 510, Cambridge
3450, NZ
