Page 5 - Culture Book

THE CP CULTURE BOOK
I joined the firm in 2004. It was very different back then! Partners’ offices upstairs... everyone else downstairs. The Chairman
had the biggest corner office... me, a 2x2 under the stairs. A tea lady made tea for the partners... no one else. I remember my
first partner meeting, and one of my new ‘more junior’ colleagues being shot down by one of older guys. His crime?
Speaking out. I kept my head down for the next few meetings!
A real hierarchy ran through the business. No one talked about culture back then, it just kinda happened. The business was
strong but the culture was formal, silo and stuck in the past.
I was fortunate though that I joined at a time of real change. Enough of us wanted something different. We were young and
wanted to make our dent in the world. We wanted to create a business where people dared to try new things. The sort of
business that we would all want to work in.
14 years on, Cooper Parry is very different. The fastest growing firm of accountants in the UK, British Accountancy’s ‘Most
Innovative Firm of the Year’, the Sunday Times 12th Best Company to work for, award-winning ‘googleseque’ offices, widely
held as the ‘rebels’ of our profession and famous for our culture. Our Culture is our brand.
We’ve experienced rapid growth. And as we continue to grow and hire new people, we need to ensure that they understand
and become part of our culture. That is the purpose of this Culture Book... to provide a glimpse of what the Cooper Parry
Culture is all about to prospective new hires, our strategic partners, our clients and anyone else who might be interested.
Of course, the CP culture means different things to different people, so we thought the best way for people to learn what it
was all about was to hear from our people directly.
To me, the Cooper Parry culture is: competing hard to win – setting stretch goals – providing opportunities and challenges for
people to do things they never imagined possible – frequent parties to celebrate victories, big or small – always fighting to
raise the bar – taking big swings – open and honest and passionate debates – playing to our strengths – entrepreneurial and
agile – childlike curiosity – a place where people get up every morning, searching for a better way – and of course... fun!
Our culture is contagious. It’s something that you feel the second you walk through the door and sticks with you long after you
leave. It would not be what it is today without the people, past and present. Our people are who we are, it’s what makes us
unique and something that changes every day. Great people is what has made it all work.
ADE CHEATHAM, CEO