A roundup of our get-togethers and exploits over the past few months, from celebrations and conferences to sporting success.
In it together
We marked International Women’s Day on 8 March by joining fellow members of AGN International for an online discussion and presentation led by AGN’s Women of Impact group. Petra Deters, said: “The way we all came together to celebrate women and diversity on an international level and commit to making the world more equitable was inspiring. In BKL, I observed a ripple effect of further conversations on what support female leaders may need and that there is room to dig deeper and explore the impact of unconscious bias and beliefs.”
In April we held BKL’s first Iftar dinner. Muslim and non-Muslim colleagues enjoyed coming together in the office for the breaking of the Ramadan fast.
In May we celebrated BKL’s growth with our biggest summer party yet. Our venue was the roof garden at 30 Euston Square. Adding to the occasion were a jazz trio, an ice cream stall and, in honour of one of BKL’s values, a ‘Take Pride’ presentation of our personal achievements as nominated by colleagues. These nominations covered Enhancing life at BKL, Above-and-beyond work, Client feedback, Exam success and Business development.
The next day, we celebrated something even rarer than summer weather in May: a coronation. We enjoyed a cream tea in the office in tribute to Charles III and Camilla. Rodda’s Clotted Cream was on hand, so there was a fellow B Corp involved too. We warmly congratulate the King and Queen on completing a unique onboarding process.
On our travels
As an AGN International member, BKL is part of a global association of accountancy and tax firms in over 85 countries. This extends the support we can provide to clients with bases and interests overseas. It also gives us welcome opportunities to make connections in person beyond London.
In May, we visited Birmingham for the annual NextGen Conference: a get-together of younger leaders from AGN’s UK & Ireland member firms. We also crossed the Atlantic for AGN’s North America Regional Meeting in Seattle.
June saw us head to Bratislava for AGN’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Regional Meeting, where we got to know more of our fellow members and exchange views on such topics as ESG and AI. As you can see, we had weather to remind us of home. We also briefly wondered whether our meal in Bratislava’s UFO Restaurant might lead to a much longer trip.
We were pleased to have Petra Deters representing BKL at the conference’s Women of Impact session. In recent months, Petra has also travelled to Munich, Stuttgart and Vienna, meeting German businesses who are considering investing in the UK and the local advisers supporting those businesses. Petra grew up in Germany and is familiar with the needs of these inward investing companies: international tax advice, bookkeeping, payroll and accounts services with an understanding of cultural differences.
While in Stuttgart, Petra attended the annual conference of the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany (BCCG), which took place at the Mercedes Benz Museum. Following that, we enjoyed collaborating with a German-based AGN member on a BCCG webinar. Read more on page 22.
On our travel list in July was Tel Aviv: one of our regular trips to meet up with Israel-based clients and contacts. As always we were inspired by their ambition, entrepreneurship and dynamism.
Property and construction events
Property and construction have long been specialist areas at BKL, forming the largest single industry sector in our client base. Our team advises clients in the residential, commercial and retail sectors, from individuals to large corporate groups.
With a group of sector experts spanning BKL (including in our tax, audit and business compliance teams), we’re keen to make people and businesses across the industry aware of the support we can provide for complex issues and ambitious growth plans.
In March, senior specialists from our property and construction team were at MIPIM 2023 in Cannes. MIPIM is a leading international property expo but has been disrupted in recent years, so for us it was a welcome post-Covid return.
Later, back in London, we held our customary Post-MIPIM Reception. Thank you to all the clients and contacts who joined us, and to Sway for hosting us. The rainclouds outside were all the more reason to reminisce about MIPIM’s sunny days and chat about the property and construction sector’s bright future.
An altogether larger gathering was the Property Awards night in June, where BKL sponsored and presented the Commercial Property Newcomer Award. Well done to the winners Bloom Developments. Their big B logo was a happy coincidence!
We also enjoyed being at the PROPS Awards Lunch in July, further celebrating excellence in the property sector while raising money for children’s charity Variety.
Say It Loud Club
Among the good causes supported by our charitable foundation (The BKL Foundation) is Say It Loud Club, a community for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.
To mark Pride Month in 2021, members of Say It Loud Club were our special guests in a firmwide Zoom event. This year, we were delighted to welcome Say It Loud Club to our office in person.
Joining us were Aloysius Ssali (Founder) and Thelma Ndaula (Housing Project Manager). They told us how, in a challenging climate for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers, Say It Loud Club help their members to overcome challenges and thrive as their true, proud selves.
Aloysius also explained Say It Loud Club’s name. By calling themselves a “club” with “members”, they foster the sense of community that turns LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers’ loneliness into belonging.
Sarah Gillham, one of The BKL Foundation trustees, said: “It was truly inspiring hearing Thelma and Aloysius’ stories. Not only have they overcome their own trials in life, but they invest their time to ensure that any LGBTQ+ refugees have the community and knowledge around them to navigate the asylum system. I look forward to any further work we do together and how we at BKL can use our skills to assist their community.”
One of the Foundation’s earlier grants helped Say It Loud Club to subsidise travel costs for members to attend a programme of free LGBTQ+ workshops.
BKL on the ball
Rain or shine, we enjoy getting outdoors for some team sport.
Mixed netball has grown in popularity at BKL too. Well done to our team, the BKL Beavers, who won their most recent tournament. They scored 148 goals, conceded only 75 and lost none of their games!
May brought an intra-BKL netball match with a difference: it was intercontinental.
BKL has a brilliant bunch of colleagues based in South Africa and working remotely across our audit and business services team. Except in May, when they were in London!
We were able to meet them in person and show them the office (and maybe a local pub or two). They also joined us for our summer party and coronation cream tea, found time for some sightseeing in and outside London, and took part in our UK v South Africa (or Beavers v Springbokkies) netball match. The result was a draw, but we know it won’t be the last time that the BKL Beavers and Springbokkies meet.
As summer has returned, so has cricket. Good luck to our team in the Last Man Stands London cricket league.
BKL on screen
Series 2 of the sitcom Hapless was released in May. Our office makes a brief unexpected appearance.
Hapless follows the misfortunes and overreactions of journalist Paul Green and his family. It’s set and filmed in Finchley and surrounding areas of North London. In one episode, Paul stops at traffic lights to soothe a black eye with an ice lolly, and there in the background is the familiar logo above our entrance!
This isn’t the first time that our office has played a part in comedy. The BBC Three comedy pilot Laughtershock (2010) had some sketches filmed inside BKL. And in 2013, we were the setting for the short video Doing Taxes to Skrillex which has had over 58,000 views on YouTube.
Series 2 of Hapless is available free with a Prime Video subscription. At the time of writing, all of its reviews are five-star. A third series is planned, so perhaps a little more limelight awaits us.
In case you missed it, we’ve also…
- Spoken at Alternative Events conferences
- Celebrated our relationship with LTSB at their 10 Year Gala
- Won a Taxation Award
- Been shortlisted for two Accounting Excellence Awards
Let’s see if the rest of 2023 can top all that!
