There are few people who walk into a job at the age of 20 and find themselves dedicated to the same company throughout their entire career. David Threlkeld started at Armstrong Watson in September 1996 as a trainee accountant and quickly worked his way up to become partner, he admits, sooner than expected. Now, as an agricultural accounting partner working with a large portfolio of farming businesses, David looks back on his career spanning almost three decades.
Having grown up on a small family farm at Newby, near Penrith, David imagined himself having an “outdoorsy career”. He was very involved on the farm, and it was, and still is, his passion.
Despite being very academic and doing well at school, it was no secret he didn’t enjoy it, and when it came to choosing what he would do after his A levels, David struggled initially to decide what would be the right move for him.
In 1994 his parents Brian and Anne Threlkeld sold the farm and bought the shop and post office in Langwathby.
“At the time I wanted an outdoorsy career,” said David, a former Appleby Grammar School pupil. “The challenge was, it was a small family farm and even then the industry was in consolidation and smaller farms were being sold and absorbed into larger farms. I was encouraged to get a nine-to-five job.”
David took a year out to weigh up his options and helped his parents with the shop and post office. But when his dad was diagnosed with cancer he stepped up, and at just 19 years old, was heavily involved with the running of the business. Sadly, Brian passed away a few months later in May 1996.
“Dad spent a lot of time with accountants because we had just sold the farm and bought another business, and - at the time Armstrong Watson was advertising in the Cumberland News for trainee accountants - he suggested I went to speak to his accountant who he seems to recall telling me not to do it,” said David, 47.
Still, there were elements that appealed – he wanted to be in practice for the variety it had to offer - and he applied. He was interviewed and told that on completion of his foundation course, the place would be his. David spent a year training in Leeds – travelling down for three days of study before coming home on a Thursday to help in the shop Friday to Monday, and returning to Leeds on a Monday night.
“It was fairly full on and dad died just before the exams so it was all pretty grim really. But I got through it,” said David.
He secured the four-year training contract with Armstrong Watson to become a Chartered Accountant.
Having had a flavour of being in a working environment and a strong work ethic engrained from a young age, naturally, David was keen to qualify and whilst earning a wage. He got through his Chartered accountancy training in three years and immediately embarked on his Chartered Tax Adviser qualification a year later, completing three qualifications within five years of being offered the job.
“There's probably a little bit about absorbing yourself in something when you've gone through a bit of trauma. Maybe it wasn't the right thing to do, but it’s what you do. Everyone gets through,” said David.
Based at Armstrong Watson’s Fairview House office, he worked in the audit department before he took on a managerial role in the Kendal office in 2000, again dealing with more company accounts than rural businesses at the time. David then became a partner in 2006 when his predecessor retired and he became much more involved with agriculture, spending time at Ulverston Auction Mart where Armstrong Watson still has a satellite office.
For David, this was a welcome change in direction. “It was less about the work type, but more about the people and feeling you had something in common with them - that you could talk their language and develop that specialism. Then you get a lot more involved in the business advisory side of things. It very much felt a lot more comfortable dealing with clients back where my roots are,” he said.
At that time, there was also an office at High Bentham and when Kendal Auction Mart relocated to Junction 36 Rural Auction Centre, Armstrong Watson became the first accountancy firm to set up a satellite office.
David spent 15 years working in Kendal, establishing a strong foundation for the business and a growing Agri portfolio. He and his wife Jennifer bought their first home in the town and started a family before he was relocated back to Carlisle eight years ago when the senior partner who was heading up the agriculture at Rosehill indicated he would be retiring.
David’s relocation was accelerated due to the sudden death of Grahame Sewell. He took on a large Agri portfolio along with the leadership of the office.
Having built up resilience as a young adult, helping run the family business whilst training during his dad’s illness, and then sitting his exams shortly after his dad died, David was again thrown into a situation where he managed to find a way through.
“It was very full on. There was an awful lot to deal with, both in terms of clients and staff management - and new baby on the way. There was a lot going on,” recalls David, now a dad-of-two to Ellie, 11, and Jessica, seven.
David said that growing up on a farm has given him a lot of admiration for the clients he deals with. “Farming is not just a job, it's a way of life and I think having had your entire childhood spent in that way of life, you do have a better understanding,” he says.
“When things go wrong, clients will call. You become a sounding board and being that sounding board when you've been there many years ago probably helps you empathise a lot more, having understood it and having seen it.
“While there’s the compliance part of what we do – everyone needs to do a tax return and all those kind of things - there’s then the more conversational, holistic view of where clients are as a family, where they’re trying to get to? What do the next 10 years look like? You get more involved in the family business and it’s so rewarding.”
With such a busy work schedule David makes time to unwind by spending a few long weekends away in the summer with his family in his touring caravan, visiting the North East coast, Yorkshire, Cheshire and even venturing to the likes of Henley-on-Thames.
“It's trying to get that escapism and bit of fresh air to turn the work-life off for a few days. And that's what we do quite a bit of,” said David.
He also has a love of vintage farm machinery and owns a rare French Ferguson tractor, which he has taken to exhibit at local shows. A present to himself when he turned 40, the tractor was in good mechanical condition for its age and David spent 18 months renovating it including a full paint job to bring it back to its former glory.
Unusually, another escapism for David is DIY work. He says tiling a kitchen, doing a bit of landscaping in the garden or even just painting a wall are tasks he rather enjoys as he is able to completely switch off from work, and get a sense of reward and relaxation.
