Clive celebrates 50 years at accounting firm – but has no plans to retire soon

A well-known accountant is celebrating helping people in and around Lynn for the past 50 years.Clive Dodds has been working for Stephenson Smart in Lynn since 1974, starting as an article clerk after going to Liverpool to gain a Foundation in Accountancy.Before that, Clive was a King’s Lynn Grammar School pupil and first moved to Lynn from Norwich in 1963.

“My first job was for C R Lake, an ice cream van business whose accounts I had to hand stitch together with a needle and thread. Everything had to be done by longhand and it took forever,” Clive said.In the half-century that Clive has been part of Stephenson Smart, he has worked his way up at the firm, becoming a partner in 1984 and chairman in 2013.When Clive started, Stephenson Smart only had its main office in Lynn and a small office in Hunstanton. Today, the firm has seven offices across Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

Clive said: “I am proud to have been part of the expansion of Stephenson Smart to the strong, successful organisation it is today. I was a key part of the negotiations when we took over the offices in Great Yarmouth and Wisbech, both now being run by new partners.” Clive is also well known for his many voluntary positions within local organisations. He joined the board at Festival Too in 1987 when the festival was in its infancy, taking up positions as treasurer and chairman for more than 20 years.Clive was also director of Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services (NWES) for 10 years, instrumental in the building of the King’s Lynn Innovation Centre.

He also chairs the West Norfolk branch of the Prince’s Trust and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in West Norfolk, taking over the position at the DofE from his father, who set the branch up. Clive retired from the board of Stephenson Smart in 2021 but has remained at the firm as a consultant. He has continued to support Dan Jastrzebski in his new role as partner, and Michael Andrews in his new role as managing partner.Michael said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Clive to grow and develop Stephenson Smart to become one of the largest accountants in King’s Lynn and expand our reach into Cambridgeshire and East Norfolk.“His dedication to the firm, and the community, is a testament to how much he has achieved.”

Clive has now fulfilled his aim of completing 50 years of service for the firm, although retirement isn’t a word that really resonates with him. He said: “I am pleased to still be very involved in running a company based in Gibraltar, where I spend about one week every month looking after their management accounts, finances, investments and anything regulatory.“I am also still supporting Stephenson Smart with a couple of large projects for clients, in my capacity as a consultant.”