News / Embracing the accountancy revolution
A LOCAL accountant has found himself an unexpected new role after starring in a promotional video for the UK’s largest accounting software provider.
Sage UK flew up a six strong production team earlier in May to follow Martin Tregonning for the day as they explored how he uses their online software and visited some of his clients across the isles.
The video clip will be used by Sage as a case study for the promotion of its cloud accounting software and is due to be released later this month.
Tregonning, who works from his home in Dunrossness, said he was completely taken by surprise when Sage approached him with the proposal of featuring his work on film.
He said: “The people at Sage had seen how I was using the new software and working to get the most out of it, and so they approached me to see if I would be happy to be used as a case study for other accountants.”
During their visit Tregonning spent the morning with the team in the office to discuss many of the differences between working in Shetland and on the UK mainland.
The afternoon was spent visiting some of his local clients: “I chose those specific clients because they are already Sage Cloud Accounting users and so could talk to the Sage team about their experience, but also because they were different to the Sage users the team usually come across on the UK mainland,” Tregonning said.
“One was Paparwark, who make traditional handcrafted Shetland furniture, and the other was a local croft.
“I think the highlight for some of the team was being in the lambing shed and actually seeing a lamb being born.”
Michael Office, who leads accountants for Sage, said the company was always on the lookout for ambassadors.
He described the team’s visit to the islands as “simply amazing”, and not just because Tregonning had embraced the “cloud accounting technology revolution in Shetland”.
“We were astounded by the beauty of Shetland and even more so how friendly, welcoming and jovial everyone was! From visiting Martin to the small businesses he supports across the islands to the coffee shop we stopped at for lunch, all of our film/photography crew commented at how warm, welcoming and friendly everyone was,” Office said.
“I have even had a Facebook friend request from someone I got talking to. My wife and I are already planning a summer trip on the ferry.”
Sage will be presenting the case study and video at Accountex, the UK’s largest trade exhibition for Chartered Accountants, to be held in London on 23 and 24 May, and have invited Tregonning for the launch.
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