Paul Shrimpling

What do you do for Remarkable Practice?
You’ll find me either consulting with accountants to help them grow their firms or presenting to accountants for the same reason. A few times a year I present to business owners – on behalf of the firms I work with. I especially enjoy presenting the power of KPIs because it helps transform the results of any business. When I’m office based I do what I can to help the Remarkable Practice team develop and promote our products and services for accountants who want to grow.

Favourite song of all time?
Witchita Line Man by Glen Campbell – because it makes me think of my wife, Kate, every time I hear it.

Name a famous person that you have met.
Sir Clive Woodward (just before he got the England job).

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An airline pilot or Royal Marine (like my dad).

My favourite place in the world is...
High on any mountain in the fresh air or swimming open water races in the sea or lakes anywhere in the world.

What are you most proud of?
Our four kids and the fact I beat Adrian Moorehouse (Olympic gold medallist) in the open-water mile race in Manchester in 2011 (by 40 seconds!).

What is your favourite edition of Business Bitesize?
I’m passionate about so many of the 4-page reports it’s hard to choose just one so I’m choosing two because I can!

First, change is the thing that keeps all our businesses relevant so leading and managing change is a vital skill so I choose ‘Winning Influence’ first because of the Delancey Street story about turning 16,000 repeat-offending gangland criminals into worthwhile members of society – if they can change we can all change!

Second I choose the ‘Magical Questions’ edition because the skill of asking great questions helps unlock all the potential of all our people and all our clients. Did you know there’s a question hierarchy that you should be aware of?

The Business Growth Accountant

Kelly Atherton

What do you do for Remarkable Practice?

I am the process person of the team.

My role involves making sure the Business Breakthrough reports and supporting tools, are written, prepared and delivered to the clients each month. I prepare all the resources, supporting emails, blogs and social media posts for each edition and ensure they are ready to support this monthly delivery.
I also listen to our weekly podcast and prepare the episode page to support the guests podcast and all the resources for us to be able to distribute it, including videos, social media posts, contact information and supporting business breakthrough reports.
I prepare and deliver weekly Remarkable Practice blogs and supporting emails with full data capture, I also do this for a number of our clients.
I also spend a lot of time filling other team members calendars with the things they need to do so I can do all of the above!
And all of the above is only possible because of long and perfectly written lists! I love a list!

Favourite song of all time?
REM - Losing My Religion. One of my all time favourite bands and I got to see them at the Milton Keynes Bowl many years ago - an amazing concert and the song still reminds me of that day.

Name a famous person that you have met.
When I was 19, I worked in a Pizza restaurant, and I got to meet and serve Fiona May – British Long Jumper – who had recently decided to jump for Italy and just won the Word Championships!! I know! But I always loved her, and she was lovely!

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A sports commentator on literally any sport… maybe except Darts and Snooker sorry Sherri!

My favourite place in the world is...
Sitting on Carbis Bay Beach in Cornwall with my boys on a lovely sunny day listening to the sea.

What are you most proud of?
My family, my husband Harry and our 16 year old son Henry - my favourite people.

What is your favourite edition of Business Bitesize?
Without a moments hesitation it will be the edition all about checklists - it's brilliant!  It will change the way you work I promise...

Sherri Medcalf

What do you do for Remarkable Practice?

My role at Remarkable Practice involves proofing and editing all of the great material produced by the team – Business Bitesizes, blogs, webpages, emails. I can be quite pedantic, so it’s a good fit!

Favourite song of all time?
This is the hardest question of all – doesn’t it depend on the mood you’re in?
I have a Desert Island playlist on my Spotify which is now up to about 25 songs, from Tangled Up in Blue to If I Were a Carpenter to the opening number from Lilo and Stitch (He Mele No Lilo).
However, if I HAD to choose just one, it would be Saint Saens’ Aquarium from his Carnival of the Animals. It was playing when I walked down the aisle 25 years ago, and I never get tired of it. I’m always immediately transported back to that wonderful day.

Name a famous person that you have met.
I was with my husband, Paul, at a conference once, and Steve Redgrave, 5-time Olympic gold medalist, was the guest speaker.
He was such a down-to-earth guy and he didn’t really know anyone there, so he joined our little group. He sat with us at dinner and shared some interesting rowing titbits – for example, he worked for TWO YEARS to shave ½ second off his time.
He made me see how all-consuming being a professional athlete can be.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Hard to remember back that far, but I think I wanted to be a nurse. This would have been a disaster, as I’m ridiculously squeamish. Computers were in their absolute infancy (my first computer programs were input on punch cards), but I did once think I would do something in that field, and so it has proved to be (kind of).

My favourite place in the world is...
I don’t have the itch to ‘go places’ like I used to, so I’m pretty content no matter where I am, as long as I’m with my family. Sounds boring, but my favourite place is my home. But I do love traveling in Italy and Germany, and we enjoy going to the Great Smoky Mountains in the US.

What are you most proud of?
First, our two sons, Cal and Jack – two terrific young men who it’s been our pleasure and privilege to raise. Even though they’re both in their twenties, we still manage to spend a lot of family time together, and we really enjoy their company.

Personally, I’m most proud of attaining a university degree in Mathematics, at the ripe old age of 34, after several years of taking night classes while working full-time. Getting that degree opened up a huge door for me – my company, NCR, sent me to France to work in their software deployment centre, and I’ve never looked back.

What is your favourite edition of Business Bitesize?
Definitely  the recent issue about the importance of trust. If a company (or a family, or any group you belong to, really) gets that right, everyone wins.