2020 is a year with not many things to highlight through the world as a success story, but after a year of providing complete bookkeeping services, the team at Pebbles Bookkeeping and HR have weathered through the turmoil to celebrate their 7th year in business as a caring and professional bookkeeping services provider.
The Drop in the Ocean
Diane Huxley formulated the idea for Pebbles whilst on maternity leave and contemplated returning to her then-current job in a part-time capacity. When this original plan did not work out, Diane left the company to set up as a sole trader in 2014 with a focus on bookkeeping and human resources.
Initially working by herself, Diane started out with a handful of clients beginning with The Drawing Room Creative, a digital marketing company based in Manchester who still work with Pebbles to this day. By October, Diane registered the company Limited due to securing a large HR contract that required the company to be registered as such. 12 months on from Diane starting the company, she was joined by her husband Sean to make the business a family affair and grow even further.
The Ripple Effect
As both Diane and Sean begin to focus their company around their family life, a large array of businesses started to employ the services of Pebbles at a steady pace.
Pebbles didn’t leave any industry out in the cold, with many of Manchester and Stockport businesses starting out or established seeking the professional care the Pebbles family could provide. Pebbles quickly gained a reputation as the company that specialises in coming in and getting companies out a jam and putting them on the straight.
Industries such as builders, cakeries, cafes and even chimney sweeps were brought under the Pebbles umbrella as well as marketing and web companies and financial institutions. In June 2016, Diane expanded her business drive further by joining BNI Royal in Gatley, a decision which helped grow the business as well as present the opportunity for Diane to be a vice president of the chapter for 1 year. As business blossomed, Pebbles focused more on the bookkeeping aspect and steadily built up their client base to 44 clients by the beginning of 2020.
A Challenging Year
Like many businesses in March 2020, Pebbles saw it’s share of problems stemming from the Covid-19 outbreak.
As many businesses were faced with financial uncertainty and future, both Diane and Sean dedicated their workload to helping clients through the turmoil they faced. By helping their clients secure the funding that they could, Pebbles were able to guide their clients through the stressful period by helping with furlough applications and pushing payroll through early in an effort to help their clients pull through the most disastrous period for businesses and still serviced to meet their HMRC obligations. This was a period where both Diane and Sean faced losses and worked time unpaid to ensure their clients would not have to.
When all was said and done, only two of Pebbles’ clients had been forced to close up shop due to the pandemic, with 42 clients able to survive through the lockdown thanks to the work involved.
In August 2020, Pebbles took on 8 new clients including a commercial cleaning service, an interior fitting contractor and a landscape gardener to widen the variety of clients and continue their reputation as a professional and helpful provider of bookkeeping services.
Recognition and Future
Pebbles Bookkeeping was anonymously voted for the 2019 Manchester Prestige Best Bookkeeper of the Year award for excellence in its field.
When providing information about their business to the award panel after discovering they were nominated, Diane admitted to never imagining her company would actually win the award. When the win was announced, Diane was a mixture of both shocked and proud of the work she has carried out to her clients to be in receipt of such an award.
Both Diane and Sean are continuing to maintain the growth of the business whilst also not allowing the business to impact their family life, with family being the most important factor of their working. With a reputation for providing the best for businesses and helping them through any financial hardship, Pebbles Bookkeeping continues to be the number one choice in small business bookkeeping solutions.
