Meet… Phil Grinsted

Phil Grinsted is yet another member of the Deeks Evans team who has been with the firm for a long time – in his case, 21 years. He is now based in Tunbridge Wells but began his career in the firm’s Hastings office, moving up to Kent three years ago.

Phil’s role is as Deeks Evans’ payroll manager, jointly overseeing payrolls for around 150 clients, ranging from one director through to 80 employees, the majority of which are based in the south east.

“I find working with payroll really satisfying,” says Phil. “I’ve got a numeric brain. I like to end up with a definitive answer and working with figures gives me that.”

Phil says he’s always been interested in numbers and left university with a degree in mathematics and statistics. He comes from Swansea in Wales but ended up in Hastings following his graduation. Once on the south coast, he spent six months as a milkman whilst looking for jobs at local accountancy practices.

Having been offered a role at Deeks Evans, Phil threw himself into learning about accountancy.

“The team in Hastings were great at training me up,” remembers Phil. “Initially I worked on bank reconciliations and preparing small sets of accounts and VAT returns for clients. I then progressed to working on larger company accounts and gained knowledge on a wide range of accountancy aspects. Eventually, I found myself working for Mr Deeks, preparing Income Tax returns. I learnt so much from him, he was a great mentor to have. He taught me the importance of looking at things thoroughly and being really methodical.”

While Phil’s role over the years had touched on payroll, when RTI (real time information) was coming in, Deeks Evans wanted somebody to manage its integration and looked to Phil, who then found that his role also expanded with the introduction of automatic enrolment pensions. It was at that point that it made sense to centralise the payroll function in Tunbridge Wells.

By its very nature, payroll tends to dominate the last two weeks of every month. This means that Phil is then sometimes able to help colleagues at the beginning of a month with VAT processing or preparing sets of accounts.

“I enjoy working here and I like the culture Deeks Evans has built and the commitment we have to our clients,” says Phil. “From a personal point of view, I appreciate the flexibility the firm has given me, particularly over recent years when I’ve been able to manage my time to enable me to pick up my two children from school every Friday.”

When he’s not at work, Phil, who lives on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells town centre, says life revolves around his family and he enjoys a barbeque when the weather allows. Being from Wales, he will grab any opportunity to watch a rugby match, while he is also a long suffering supporter of Swansea City Football Club.