Meet the team: Gary Banwell

Director of Zig Zag

From 9 'till 5

Gary is a Chartered Accountant.

In a previous life, he got his “hands dirty” working on his parent’s tenanted dairy farm near Cheddar, Somerset, until aged 25 when he left the "real world" and went back to “school”. By 29 he had a degree in Accounting and Finance from UWE, Bristol following which he re-joined the "real world" by working in accountancy.

His background of working with owner managed businesses whilst at provincial firms of Chartered Accountants, together with actually working in his own family run business, enables Gary to fully understand the challenges and issues that owner managed businesses face (but these issues can also be opportunities).

His personal experience of the changing world of business, particularly his family’s farming business in the last 20 to 30 years, has made him realise that not only do businesses have to be flexible and adaptable to change, they also have to able to do this at speed. If not you will be “run over by the people coming up behind you” (Kodak and digital photography, Nokia/Blackberry mobile phones and iPhone, Woolworths/Blockbuster/BHS and the impact of the internet).

To be able to face the future successfully, he believes that you have to know your goals and vision (which do not have to be solely financial) and have a very good team (both internally and external advisers) around you to be able to take the action and move forward. One without the other reduces the chance of success.

Email me: Gary.Banwell@ZigZagca.com

Call me: 07495 006 628