Profile: David Simpson
Author:
David Simpson
[Fulltext] The former President of the Law Society was enjoying his walk with his dog in Bushy Park on a damp chilly November Sunday morning. He acknowledged the greeting from the man putting up the nets on the soccer pitch. Then he looked again at his greeter. Two nights earlier they had been discussing the difficult climate facing professional bodies in Ireland at a formal black-tie dinner. Now he was walking his dog, while David Simspon was hanging out of the crossbar trying to get the last corner of netting hung properly before CYM's under 14s took the field. David Simpson's life is a complex matrix woven around his work, his interests and his personal life. He does not live the compartmentalised life that many expect of accountants.
Having qualified in 1979 he and his partner, Anthuan Xavier, set up Simpson Xavier in 1982. "We started off with no clients and no staff" he says "and 1,500 sq. feet of office space in Fitzwilliam lane. The day we moved in I looked around and though we'd never fill the place." But fill it they did, and by the end of the first year had to take on extra space. Now the firm has 27 partners, 280 staff and fee income in excess of £17m. " We grew the firm by having a very clear market focus and by developing strong specialisms alongside the traditional audit and tax compliance areas. Even at times of slow economic growth generally, the firm always achieved double digit annual growth and we are recognised as the fastest growing accountancy firm throughout the 1980s and 1990s".
From the start we focused exclusively on indigenous owner-managed Irish businesses, offering them a quality relationship based service" says Simpson. "While the mutinationals have contributed hugely to our current economic success, I think that the indigenous sector's contribution has been very unfairly overlooked"
Some of Simpson's clients have been anything but overlooked. He took care of the financial arrangements for the Republic of Ireland team that went to Germany for Euro 88 and to Italy and the US in 1990 and 1994 for the World Cup. "Kevin Moran is an old friend of mine from college days and he asked us to help out with the players' pool". Another example of the cross-over between Simspon's work and his main interest - sport.
A useful gaelic footballer- he played senior football for Synge Street- he had most success at soccer. Having won a FAI Youths Cup medal, he subsequently captained UCD and played with the Irish Universities. He then joined Shamrock Rovers and won a League of Ireland B winners medal with the Hoops. A serious knee injury ended his career at the most competitive level, but he continued to play for CYM for 20 years. He also competed for 21 consecutive years in the DCASS five a side tournament until a knee injury in 1997 ended his participation. His sporting activities these days are confined to regular work-outs in the gym and golf.
His involvement with the Institute dates back to 1984. Brian Walsh who was then the Practice Advisory Executive (now Chief Executive at ICAI) was a great source of support and advice for Anthuan and myself when we started out. Having been the beneficiary of such support, I suppose it was natural that I would be asked to help out in a voluntary way on the Practice Review Committee at the Institute. I really enjoyed the experience and in 1992 was elected Council".
He admits to some frustration at the negative portrayal of accountants. "Of course there are some accountants who are boring, fuddy duddies, but some of the best nights out I've has have been in the company of Chartered Accountants. I remember being asked to speak at the General Practitioners Conference in 1989. While the Conference was interesting, what I most enjoyed was the networking the social contact and the "craic" late into the night. I haven't missed a Conference since."
David Simpson is a Dub of the "true blue" variety. His grandparents and his parents were all born in the Liberties. He went to school in Francis Street and Synge Street and his offices are on Merchants Quay, five minutes from his old schools. David is married to Catherine who, at the time of going to print, is expecting their fourth child.
Accountancy Ireland Vol 32 No 3 June 2000