This is the second year running that Simpkins Edwards has made the shortlist, having won Employer of the Year in 2025. We caught up with Managing Partner Mark Simic to talk about the firm's growth, its culture, and what's driving its continued success.
Founded in 1968 and approaching its 60th anniversary in 2028, Simpkins Edwards has grown to 11 partners, around 130 employees and roughly 6,000 clients across five offices in Devon, and remains an independent firm today.
Much of the firm's recent growth has come from its healthcare specialism, now its second-biggest sector after agriculture. What started with one partner's GP background has grown into a full advisory service built around quarterly benchmarking and KPI analysis, helping GP and dental clients act on live data rather than a once-a-year set of accounts.
"The growth in our service line has been very much off the back of a quarterly advisory approach," Mark explained. "We prepare quarterly benchmarking, KPI analysis and management information... that approach has been really well received from clients, and that's what has been fuelling our growth."
On what drove that growth, Mark points to how the firm looked after the people delivering it:
"Our promise to the team is resource-led growth: the team is in place, trained, and has the capacity to take on new clients, rather than us winning new clients first and then the team being stressed or overstretched trying to deliver the work. The client experience is always better when the team feel supported and valued. Our goal is to be ambitious with the growth, but keep it manageable, and therefore sustainable."
- Mark Simic
Apprenticeships sit at the heart of the firm's culture too. Twenty-three members of staff, around a fifth of the workforce, are currently on apprenticeship schemes, and many of the firm's senior team came up through the same route. One standout, Jon Evans, recently finished in the top 10 worldwide in his ICAEW exams. Another, Alyson Maguire, moved from a client-facing role into practice manager and was named Employee of the Year at the Devon Women in Business Awards.
Every apprentice at Simpkins Edwards is given a dedicated mentor, and as they progress through their training, they go on to take on mentoring responsibilities for the next cohort coming through. It's this "pass it on" mentality, built on the firm's three core values of reputation, commerciality and sustainability, that Mark credits for much of the firm's success, and for the recognition it's now receiving.
"It's quite nice to be recognised," he said. "The teams are working hard to be the best we can be, and it's quite nice to have the progress that we've made so far recognised, and giving us a chance to pause and celebrate our successes."
Simpkins Edwards has offices across Devon, including Exeter, and specialises in agricultural, corporate and healthcare accountancy, alongside general practice services.
At TaxCalc, we're proud to sponsor the Mid-Tier Firm of the Year category, and it's brilliant to see a firm as young as Sampson Fielding earning its place among firms decades its senior, built on exactly the kind of people-first, relationship-led approach we love to celebrate.
Asked what winning would mean, the founders didn't hesitate: "It would be recognition of the seriously hard work Elliot and I have put in, but also that the team would be genuinely proud. We believe we're the best firm in the country, it would be quite nice to be recognised for that externally too."
We'll be cheering them on at the Practice Excellence Awards, congratulations to Ben, Elliot and the whole team at Sampson Fielding on a very well-deserved nomination.