At Bridge, we’re all about people. We’re here to support the business journey of people like you, by supporting our people with training and mentoring to develop their knowledge and skills. But it doesn’t stop there – we’re also dedicated to the people in our wider community, and we spend a lot of our time volunteering for community causes.
Recently one of our founding Directors, Phillipa Taylor, was awarded service awards for her outstanding voluntary commitment to Surf Lifesaving. So we thought we’d take this opportunity to share a little more about Phillipa, who we’re sure many of you know in a professional sense, but may not yet be aware of in her community roles.
Phillipa naturally gravitated to a career in accounting because she loves working with people and numbers. So it’s no wonder the firm she co-founded has such a strong people-focus.
A Northlander born and bred, Phillipa has lived in Bream Bay for over 30 years, and has spent just four years living outside the region, while she attended university.
“I went to Otago University to study for my BCom (Bachelor of Commerce) when I left high school,” she says. “I was drawn to accounting because of the people you got to meet, and I enjoyed working with numbers”.
Phillipa became a Chartered Accountant in 1986, and has been part of the fabric of Bridge Advisory since long before it became known by its current name. In 2016 she started Gilmore Taylor Associates with Chantal Gilmore, but she was part of the firm’s predecessors before then too.
Nearly four decades since becoming a Chartered Accountant, Phillipa says the most satisfying aspect of her career is “working with all our clients on the great variety of issues they encounter, and helping them resolve these to build their businesses”. She also enjoys working with and mentoring the next generation of accountants at Bridge, to help them achieve their career goals.
A particular highlight of Phillipa’s career, aside from founding Bridge, was being awarded a Fellowship by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) in 2019. The award came via nomination by her peers, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the accounting profession and the community.
Her community work is extensive, and she has made significant contributions to surf lifesaving, dance and the arts both locally and at a national level.
A member of Ruakākā Surf Lifesaving Patrol for over 20 years, and Treasurer since 2013, Phillipa was recently awarded life membership. She was also the recipient of service awards from both Surf Lifesaving Northern Region and Surf Lifesaving New Zealand this year.
Phillipa is also heavily involved with dance and performing arts, arranging and running annual tap, ballet and jazz dance competitions. She joined the Northland Performing Arts Competition Society in 2006, and became President in 2012. She also joined the committee of Northland Ballet and Dance in 2011, and became President in 2019. Phillipa was also elected to the national board of Performing Arts Competitions Association of NZ (PACANZ) this year.
Alongside her dedicated volunteer work, Phillipa still finds time to look after her clients at Bridge, providing compliance accountancy for all types of entity, business advisory and management assistance. She also provides tax advice for entities of all sizes, from individuals to large corporates, including legal and audit assignments.
People-focused to the core, Phillipa’s hopes for the future of Bridge are centred on her clients and staff.
“I hope that we’ll continue to support our clients’ many and varied businesses, offering them the advice they need as we build long term relationships with them”, she says. “I also want to continue to provide an environment for our staff to develop their advisory skills and achieve their career goals.”
