Paige Collins on financial engineering, business and becoming an author

‘Setting up my own business was the best thing I’ve ever done.’

Paige Collins has been a financial engineer for over 40 years. A respected figure in the world of accountancy, she set up her own firm three years ago. Here, she reflects on how her career has changed since she launched her own practice, Warren House Accountant…

It was never my original intention to set up my own practice. I was the managing partner of my previous firm and was ultimately the sole partner in the Horsham office.

When the lease expired, the only option was to merge the Horsham and Brighton offices. Realistically, that was not going to happen. So, with little choice, I set up Warren House Accountants – and it’s been the best thing I have ever done!

As a client said to me last March, when having a meeting regarding profit extraction, in its widest form, he was concerned about his accountant being a financial engineer. In response, I asked: Are you concerned when a structural engineer advises you about building your extension safely? His response was that he was glad he had a financial engineer on his side!

Being able to set the company’s agenda and what I wanted the firm to stand for has been an important part of the business. Most importantly, it has been about what Warren House Accountants can deliver to clients. That has been a big part of my journey.

Embarking on that journey of starting your own practice is a significant endeavour. So was the decision to branch out on her own influenced by changes in Paige’s personal life, or was entrepreneurship always a part of her long-term plans?

Effectively the answer is ‘yes’. My personal life changes were an influence as I was left with little choice but to set up Warren House Accountants. Because I demerged from my previous firm, I did not see it as a move to entrepreneurship, but just a continuation of what I had been doing for 38 years with clients that I knew and a team that joined me as part of the demerger.

Some of them have moved on to pastures new, progressing their professional careers with, hopefully, more empathy and guidance as a result of their experience with me at Warren House Accountants.

Paige’s journey towards embracing her gender identity is undoubtedly profound. We invited her to delve into the pivotal moment four years ago when she made the decision to transition. What factors influenced her choice and why did she feel it was the right time?

Sometimes, you have to do what is right for you at the time and my change was just that point in time for me. I did not want to leave this life with any regrets.

Initially, it was a relatively easy decision for me, but the pivotal point came when two of my former business partners made comments about my changes; one saying in response to my note to the staff, that ‘if I knew two years ago (which was about me explaining this had not been on a whim) then why did I not say anything’, then and the other saying: ‘I presume you are still going ahead with it!’ At that point, my mind was made up and my professional life got more challenging. The idea of Warren House Accountants was born.

Transitioning undoubtedly comes with its own set of challenges. From Paige’s perspective, what has been the most difficult aspect of this process, and how has she navigated through it?

Certainly, the most challenging aspect was giving up on 38 years with the same firm, the last 15 of which I had been the managing partner and had tried to guide the firm through partner retirements and lead from the front.

Then, of course, my own demerger, which is still, some three years later, not finalised.

The other most challenging time was when my GCS surgery was scheduled in early November 2022. Firstly, the recovery was going to take three months, to early February 2023, with November to January being a busy time of year for us financial engineers. I had to consider who was going to want to be with me during my recovery.

I arranged with my team what work we could get completed before I went off and then what would be left to complete with their help and experience. This all passed without too many issues.

Then, I had to arrange for my recovery period. Firstly, post-surgery, I had a visitor every day with friends coming and going. A special shout out to my ex-wife, who is now a close friend, for visiting and picking me up and to my niece, Fiona, for coming and staying for a few weeks, just in case. Then began my schedule of visitors who wanted to see me and see if I was OK post-surgery, with most days being taken by someone visiting. This was, with hindsight, quite exhausting but I was very thankful for the company.

With the imminent release of Paige’s autobiography next month, A New Paige, we’re eager to learn more about the narrative and themes it explores. Can you provide us with insights into the essence of your book and what readers can expect to gain from it?

It has been an interesting journey into me and my life. The biography gives a small insight into my journey. Little glimpses into my early years, education, not going to university, starting my professional journey and of course ending with the final part of my life and transition.

My father died 43 years ago, when I was 17, and my mum only two years ago aged 90. I inherited sports trophies from my father and have given some of these back to the clubs that he won them with. I was giving two back to the Frazer Nash Car Club and they asked if I had any biography material for my father, which I didn’t. So, after 43 years, I actually wrote his biography.

It started with him winning his first trophy in 1920 for running. I let a friend read his biography and she said you could change my dad’s name, Bob Collins, for mine and it would be no different journey; well except with one minor (maybe major) change. He even went skiing to Switzerland in 1947, which is on cine film and now a USB stick. Only time will tell!

My mum, Barbara, was a keen golfer and was a member at Mannings Heath Golf Club since the 1960s and was ladies’ captain twice during her time at the club, playing up until the pandemic, into her late 80s. I hope I follow in her footsteps.

Paige’s upcoming second book delves into the concept of emotional profit — an intriguing topic indeed. We asked her to elaborate on what emotional profit entails and how it factors into her practice at Warren House Accountants. Additionally, how does she measure and cultivate emotional profit within her professional endeavours?

I have had this idea floating around for a number of years and, coming from a traditional financial background, did not want to measure it by numbers. It was during a Brighton Chamber online event that the penny dropped, and it should be measured by colours and not by numbers.

In this book ‘Emotional Profit’ is explained as the awareness, consideration and proactive steps taken by an organisation or individual to ensure they go beyond diversity inclusion for every community and group of people they impact. A flourishing Emotional Profit is where an organisation goes beyond general measures to ensure that every single member of their internal and external community is considered, included, valued, and they are aware that they are as such. Your organisation has been highlighted as operating at a high level of Emotional Profit supporting the community as specified of either gender, neurodiversity, LGBQIA+, employee engagement, charity engagement, environment sensitivity and sustainability, or disability confidence.   

The previous chart depicts the colours of the Emotional Profit, and how an organisation will start in the centre of the circle, the lighter shade of the colour, and aiming to achieve the brightest colour in the specific area of EP. My utopian idea is that, eventually, companies will measure their emotional profit first and their financial profit second; as good emotional profit will equal excellent financial profit.

As the owner of a chartered accountants, I believe in delivering holistic advice. That means I consider a business or enterprise in its entirety. It helps me provide a service that ensures an organisation serves its purpose better and fits in with the needs of those who own and run it.

Warren House Accountants is able to provide an optimum service by harnessing insights curated from the right use of technology and combining those with a wealth of qualified experience.

It was a pleasure to interview Paige and learn more about her career, her life, her book, and the continuing success of Warren House Accountants. A fascinating, inspirational story!

Website: www.whagroup.co.uk

LinkedIn: Warren House Accountants