Julie Berry is Chief Operating Officer at chartered accountancy firm, Saffery. She initially joined the firm in 2018 as IT Partner, before moving to the COO role in 2022. In this interview, she discusses how the accountancy sector is evolving, the role of the COO, and how Saffery delivers on its strategic objectives.
What have you been focusing on since stepping up to the COO role?
At Saffery, our approach to leadership is grounded in collaboration and strategic alignment across all areas of the firm. One key area of focus for my role is the oversight and development of our support teams, which consists of all non-fee earning teams, including business services and secretarial functions.
These teams play a vital role in supporting our fee-earners, and we’re continuously improving our processes and identifying efficiencies to enable them to prioritise client work. For example, streamlining workflows and ensuring what we put in front of our fee-earners and partners to collaborate on is a valuable use of their time.
Another important aspect of the role is chairing our Management Board, which is responsible for the operational implementation of our firm-wide strategy and smooth running of day-to-day activities, such as budget and resource planning.
I also work closely with our Managing Partner and Leadership Board to ensure our strategic objectives are met. These objectives are delivered through four strategic pillars – what we refer to as “Cornerstones” – which guide our long-term vision and decision-making across the firm.
How do you choose these Cornerstones?
Our four Cornerstones are People, Client Service, Chosen Markets and Responsible Business. People and Client Service remain core to our strategic approach, while the other two evolve depending on our goals.
Our focus on responsible business is a good example of this. Part of our current 2022-26 Business Plan includes an aim to become recognised as a responsible business, which involves being more responsible to our people, to our local communities, and to our environment.
Each year, we recruit many school leavers and graduates into the firm. While responsible business is a topic of interest for everybody, it particularly resonates with our younger colleagues. They’re often more interested in understanding how we, as an organisation, contribute to society beyond our core work. For example, we have nine offices across the UK, so people are keen to understand how we interact and work with the local communities we’re part of, whether through volunteering, partnerships, or sustainable practices.
In December 2024, we welcomed a Responsible Business Director to the firm, a subject matter expert who has already helped us make strong progress in this area, particularly as we prepare for our second Responsible Business Report. As we work towards the end of our current Business Plan in March 2026, our aim is to embed responsible business practice and ethos into our operations. If we achieve this aim and these principles are fully integrated, we may no longer need to have responsible business as a standalone Cornerstone and can shift our focus to new areas of opportunity.
How is the accountancy profession evolving?
One of the firm’s unique identifiers is our ability to offer a full suite of accountancy services. This brings a level of complexity and operational challenge, but it reflects our commitment to delivering exceptional client service and supporting them through every stage of their journey, from A-Z.
As the profession evolves, we’re now seeing a shift from generalists to specialists. With increasing regulatory demands and a more complex business landscape, the profession needs specific expertise.
Artificial Intelligence is on everyone’s radar. As with others, we’re still exploring how it will ultimately impact our work, but it’s clear that further changes are coming. I believe AI will change the way accountants work, and in 10 years’ time, the profession will be very different. We’ll need to consider how it affects our work processes and people development.
How has the profile of business services changed over your career?
The appreciation of what business services teams bring to professional services has significantly changed. Now, it’s much more of a partnership between business services and fee-earning teams. Firms increasingly recognise that there are certain areas (whether it’s HR, marketing, finance or IT) that require subject matter experts, and they’re willing to partner on that. There’s a greater understanding that a successful modern firm depends on this subject matter expertise to operate effectively and deliver value to clients.
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