Five partners.

Eleanor is the third Hale to work at number nine and has spent most of her career helping families decide what happens to their companies. She trained in Birmingham, came home in 2001 and became senior partner in 2017.

She chairs the family meetings that nobody else wants to chair, and has been known to suggest that a client wait another year.

Catherine leads the tax work of the firm. She spent eleven years in the tax department of a large national practice before deciding that she would rather know her clients by name.

She reads Finance Bills for pleasure, or says she does, and writes most of what appears in our insights.

David joined as a trainee in 1999 and has never left. He looks after the larger companies on our books, most of them in manufacturing, food and agricultural supply.

He prefers to see a factory floor before he sees a trial balance, and his monthly packs are the ones clients actually read.

Rhys advises families, trustees and executors. He grew up on a hill farm in Powys and so takes a particular interest in land, farming families and the awkward tax questions that come with both.

He works closely with the solicitors in the town and is a trustee of several family settlements.

Anjali looks after younger companies, including several second-generation businesses where the daughter or son has recently taken over. She joined the firm in 2016 and became a partner in 2023.

She runs the firm’s training scheme, and it is largely thanks to her that our trainees now answer the telephone with some confidence.