We love being based in Waterlooville, so much so that it was important to us to remain as a local accountant when relocating to our current office.
With over 35 years’ experience locally, the local area and local business owners mean that no two days at Heelan Associates HQ are ever the same.
Here are a few of our favourite things about serving you, our local community:
1. A wide range of local industries
One of the reasons we love working in Waterlooville and the surrounding areas is the wide variety of businesses.
The area is growing fast, with an abundance of construction industry and trade related businesses (who we love to deal with, and make up large proportion of our clients) along with all manner of different professions.
This keeps our job exciting as we get to work with all sorts of interesting ventures, everything from eco-friendly raw dog food manufacturers, to developers of socially responsible technology, to educational robotics.
2. Growing support for entrepreneurs and small business owners
Waterlooville and Hampshire is a great area to start a new business as the number of networking groups available is fantastic.
If you are looking to meet like-minded business people or potential clients these groups can really be a benefit to your business, whether you are established or in the start-up phase.
From the very structured meetings to the less formal gathering of business people, so there is an event to suit every style. If you’ve never been to one we would highly recommend giving them a go.
We are also spoilt for choice in terms of small office spaces available to help business in the early days to rent at an affordable level, such as Basepoint.
These style of offices (also sometimes known as ‘innovation spaces’) are a great way to get a business out from a bedroom or the local coffee shop. There is even one of these innovation spaces opposite our office!
As a side note, we will be holding monthly networking groups at our new office. Sign up to the newsletter for information on future events.
3. Cities and transport links
There are some great thriving cities such as Portsmouth, Chichester, Winchester & Southampton nearby. Each with a fantastic local community of people and businesses as potential customers for our clients (and us!).
The A3 is also right on the doorstep, opening up easy access to places from Petersfield to Guildford. Even the London commute isn’t bad!
With the local universities there is also a lot of potential young talent, which is attractive for those looking to hire.
4. A mix of business old and new
With the local business world seemingly booming, there really is a great mix of business out there, all at different stages of their life. This is a massive opportunity.
Whether your business supports new start ups, helps growth or prefers the larger or more established business, they are here in this local market.
It is fantastic to be able to access such a wealth of varied business owners with different experiences to learn from. See point 2 for future networking events to meet these experienced business minds!
5. Local business with worldwide reach
Whilst we love working locally, thanks to the marvel of ‘cloud accounting’ systems, we can work with clients pretty much anywhere in the world!
We have clients in Asia, Nepal, Bali, Hong Kong, Spain and the US, to name a few, so while our heart is in Waterlooville, our reach is most definitely global. With tools like Skype and GoToMeeting it really is easy to keep in touch.
With applications that can receive bank account data or photo receipts, it is simple to get all the data we need to help support businesses regardless of location.
In most industries similar tech solutions exist to reach further afield. Many of our clients also reach to Europe and beyond!
6. Our local network of expertise
We are very proud of our professional network. If you need a service, the chances are we know someone that can help you with your need. In the local area we have many great professionals and business that can support you.
If you can get out and expand your network, it really will open your eyes to just how many businesses are in the area. The saying goes, ‘Your netWork is your netWorth’ after all.
7. History – the old and the new
Over 200 years old, the town area was originally known as Waterloo, being renamed later to differentiate itself, becoming Waterlooville. In 1911, it was still known as Waterloo Parish. Thought to be originally named after the band of soldiers that passed through after that battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The history lesson aside, what is interesting is the lack of ‘famous’ names currently attributed to the area. Recently, local media were excited that Engand football manager Gareth Southgate had attended a local school for a brief time. The future can do better than this claim to fame surely?
Are you the future business or business person that will be associated with our great area? We think it’s time to firmly put Waterlooville on the map. Will you get your own citation on Wikipedia? We hope so!