Mark Levy

Mark regards himself as a businessman first and a chartered accountant second. Deep down this reflects his intense entrepreneurial spirit and the passion he has in helping this type of business succeed.

It’s what inspired him to start the business with Jeremy back in 1985, a journey of nearly thirty years. In so doing, breaking away from the normality of big firm, grey suit, accounting practice life to pursue the more adventurous and colourful joint vision that Berley has become today.

An empathic connection with the trials and tribulations that often lead new and established businesses to failure, motivated him to gain his insolvency practitioners license. Through this, he has honed his skills in identifying the common pitfalls entrepreneurs make, helping educate other entrepreneurs in how to identify and avoid the same errors – such as chasing turnover instead of profit or cash.

His passion for running an accountancy practice drives him to teach others how accountants need to develop too. Mark has lectured in the UK, South Africa and the United States of America on the management and marketing skills required by a modern accountant.

Core Skills:

• Building entrepreneurial businesses
• Identifying business problems and applying solutions in terms that clients understand.
• Insolvency avoidance
• All that you’d expect in a top class chartered accountant

Style:

Engaging a client on their own terms and in a manner that relates to their own business is critical. Mark says: “it is very important not to talk to a client in technical speak but in a language that they can understand relating to their own business environment”. After a meeting with Mark, the client never walks out thinking “what on earth was he talking about.”

He is upfront and transparent in how he does business. He believes that paramount to Berley’s success is the belief in managing clients expectations and that there is no point in doing work for a client if you haven’t agreed on a fee structure beforehand. This avoids any disappointments later.

Mark believes his prime role with his clients is to act as a financial coach in helping his clients achieve what they want from their business. He has often been called their quasi-finance director.

Mark’s Top Hero Qualities:

Sharp Eyesight: Having an entrepreneurs eye and have worked with countless creative individuals in their quest to create truly unique companies, Mark has a keen eye, not just for opportunity, but also trouble.

Solid Jaw: Mark’s not afraid to throw the odd, seemingly oddball idea at his clients. Often it’s done as a way to shake them up and trigger new thinking. Great companies are often born out of crazy ideas. And don’t forget, he’s done the same to many other clients over the years and is well prepared for the knockbacks.

Strong Back: He knows that you took a lot onboard when you decided to make that idea in your head a reality. He also knows it’s tempting to bear most of the load yourself in the early days. he’s prepared to carry that load for you. However, there’s a difference between working hard and working smart and he’s going to show you how.

Athletic Legs: It’s perhaps a good time to point out that, deceptive as it may seem, Mark is a long distance road cyclist. So he has the legs to carry him. This is a good thing for his clients because he’s used to being in something for the long haul and not quitting. Edison once said” Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration; it’s nice to have somebody on your team that’s used to perspiring a little.

Fun Side:

As a family man Mark has a wife, Alison and two children, Charlotte (a teacher) and Alex (in banking). Spending quality time with the family helps Mark achieve a well-balanced lifestyle. Travelling is one of Mark’s passions (he has been known to go as far as New Zealand for just two days). His love of sport covers many activities such as golf, skiing, scuba diving, but probably he is happiest on long-distant road cycling with his friends (which he has done all around the world for charity) or trekking at high altitudes in excess of 20,000 feet.