Meet Team PKF SCS: Sales Development Consultant, Tim Holton

It’s time to meet Tim Holton, Sales Development Consultant, who is celebrating 20 years at PKF Smith Cooper Systems!

Here at PKF SCS, we value each and every employee, and we are proud that we have so many long-standing colleagues.

Congratulations on 20 years with us, Tim, here’s to many more!

How did you come to join PKF SCS?

When I joined in May 2004, I didn’t expect to still be here celebrating 20 years. It has been such an exciting time and great people to work with – the time has flown. I am one of those who never planned to join PKF SCS. I was working as Marketing Manager for Uniq Systems when Smith Cooper took the company over. You always hear stories of bad experiences when a company is taken over, but this was not the case. The process was seamless and at every stage, I was made to feel very welcome by my new colleagues.

How has the company changed in your time?

Marketing has changed considerably over the last 20 years, with the most significant changes being social media, email and the internet. When I first arrived direct mail via the post was still the primary way to contact clients and prospects. Although seminars are still an effective marketing tool, webinars are now the norm. The big IT shows have now been consigned to the past. Marketing is much more targeted, and prospects receive multiple contacts depending on where they are on the sales cycle. Marketing is much more focused and result-driven.

What has been your favourite moment so far?

My most memorable moment would be a Christmas party when we went to the Williams F1 factory. We had the venue to ourselves and were truly spoilt. The F1 simulator was great fun as one actually sat in an F1 cockpit. It was interesting to see as the evening progressed how our reactions slowed, and crashes increased.

In recent times, coming second in the Sage Energy Day was memorable. This was open to all Intacct Business Partners. In the region of 70 people took part so that was a special achievement, especially given that my data was lukewarm at best.

Who is your favourite colleague and why? 

During the 20 years, there have been a great number of colleagues that I have found helpful, professional, and thoroughly decent people to work with and be in their company. In recent times, given the change in the workplace to remote working, the nature of working relationships has changed. Gone are the lunchtime interactions and conversations over the water cooler.

Based on the number of times I have interacted with the person outside of PKF Smith Cooper I will say Kevin Honey. I worked with him for 17/18 years until he retired from PKF SCS. However busy he was, he always found the time to help me and others with issues. In the early days of joining, he was my go-to person on Sage MMS as it was then. We still talk regularly and meet up a couple of times a year to put the world to rights.

What’s the best thing about being at PKF SCS? 

There are so many good points about being part of the PKF SCS that it is impossible to single out just one. So, I will have to give 2. Firstly, the people – everyone works as a team and my interactions have always been positive. Secondly, a management team that knows their destination and how we are going to get there, and brings the team along with them.

What are you most looking forward to in the next 5 years? 

Given my current age, being around in 5 years to celebrate my 70^th birthday! Within PKF SCS I don’t have any immediate plans or ambitions. I like to think I will be wanted for a few more years as I still get a buzz from generating leads. I am a realist and I suspect towards the end of this period I will be spending more time with grandchildren, fishing, golf, snooker and travelling.

That is all for this time around, thank you very much for reading and a huge thank you to Tim for sparing the time to answer our questions!