My Life in Numbers: Richard Port CA

MY LIFE IN NUMBERS

Richard Port CA

CEO, Bauer Engineering;
MD, Port Accounting Services

Named one of ICAS’ 35 Rising Stars in 2025, Richard Port CA is nothing if not versatile, leading an engineering company alongside his growing accounting firm. He talks fibre installation, the music industry, 5G conspiracy theorists and his chance introduction to engineering

5

I was born in Scunthorpe and went to school in Hull. My dad was a ship broker and my mum is a bookkeeper. So I grew up round the Humber in a family of five, with my non-identical twin brother and my sister. And that’s where I am now. Growing up I was into sport – I played rugby and I fenced for a while at school. But I was never as good as my brother at rugby and when I got a back injury, aged 15, I had to stop. After that, my Saturday mornings were spent watching him play rugby – it was either that or watch my sister play hockey, and hockey’s not my game.

5

I was born in Scunthorpe and went to school in Hull. My dad was a ship broker and my mum is a bookkeeper. So I grew up round the Humber in a family of five, with my non-identical twin brother and my sister. And that’s where I am now. Growing up I was into sport – I played rugby and I fenced for a while at school. But I was never as good as my brother at rugby and when I got a back injury, aged 15, I had to stop. After that, my Saturday mornings were spent watching him play rugby – it was either that or watch my sister play hockey and hockey’s not my game.

1987

My dad founded his own business in 1987. It was import-export, trading timber loads brought in from the Baltic states, which would all come in at the Humber. He was based just two minutes down the road from where we lived. He started off with a tiny, little dock and when it was high tide, he’d be down there helping pull the ship in. So our entire lives were run by the tide tables.

By 2007 costs were increasing – fuel, the minimum wage – and there was some bad weather. With ships coming across from the Baltic, when that freezes, they ain’t getting through. It was a multitude of things and, sadly, after 20 years the business folded.

1987

My dad founded his own business in 1987. It was import-export, trading timber loads brought in from the Baltic states, which would all come in at the Humber. He was based just two minutes down the road from where we lived. He started off with a tiny, little dock and when it was high tide, he’d be down there helping pull the ship in. So our entire lives were run by the tide tables.

By 2007 costs were increasing – fuel, the minimum wage – and there was some bad weather. With ships coming across from the Baltic, when that freezes, they ain’t getting through. It was a multitude of things and, sadly, after 20 years the business folded.

2007

I enjoyed working with my dad as a teenager. So that was my plan, to take over his firm. After the business failed in 2007, just as I was applying for university, I thought I’d better find a more vocational course, as my parents were clear that not going wasn’t an option! After my plan A was scotched, accountancy made sense.

3

I got on the EY degree scheme, which is a three-way partnership between them, Lancaster University and ICAS, with a degree in accounting, auditing and finance. The first year and first term of the second year were at Lancaster. Then you go on a three-month placement to coincide with the busy January–March season for audit, before going back for some exams. The third year was fully placement, and the fourth year was the same as the second.

I’m far more interested in business than accountancy, but it was interesting, and a door-opening qualification. I enjoyed university life – and it’s where I met my wife, too.

2007

I enjoyed working with my dad as a teenager. So that was my plan, to take over his firm. After the business failed in 2007, just as I was applying for university, I thought I’d better find a more vocational course, as my parents were clear that not going wasn’t an option! After my plan A was scotched, accountancy made sense.

3

I got on the EY degree scheme, which is a three-way partnership between them, Lancaster University and ICAS, with a degree in accounting, auditing and finance. The first year and first term of the second year were at Lancaster. Then you go on a three-month placement to coincide with the busy January–March season for audit, before going back for some exams. The third year was fully placement, and the fourth year was the same as the second.

I’m far more interested in business than accountancy, but it was interesting, and a door-opening qualification. I enjoyed university life – and it’s where I met my wife, too.

18

I did my work placement in EY’s London office, then took a job there after graduation. I was based in the More London offices, between London Bridge and Tower Bridge – it’s a beautiful place to work, with eye-catching views.

There was a lot of focus on the social side – which you need when you’re working that many hours. It was a great place to work, but there were times when I was working on the Universal Music account that I was arriving at 8am, getting a taxi home from Kensington High Street all the way to Romford at 2am – that’s an 18-hour day. And that was normal.

18

I did my work placement in EY’s London office, then took a job there after graduation. I was based in the More London offices, between London Bridge and Tower Bridge – it’s a beautiful place to work, with eye-catching views.

There was a lot of focus on the social side – which you need when you’re working that many hours. It was a great place to work, but there were times when I was working on the Universal Music account that I was arriving at 8am, getting a taxi home from Kensington High Street all the way to Romford at 2am – that’s an 18-hour day. And that was normal.

1

I loved working on that Universal account, though. I started in advertising, then one day I was asked to cover in Romford, where I lived and where they had their royalties department. A lot of it’s the same, just numbers on a spreadsheet, but I enjoyed things like allocation testing, which is trying to work out which label – Decca, Polydor, Island etc – owns the record. The only way to do that is to play the music, do the research, look through Wikipedia, Spotify, all the rights, and so on. I did that for one day, then I fought like hell to stay on that job.

Writing is a medium of communication that represents language through the inscription of signs and symbols.

I stayed on that audit, then for the last year I was running the revenue royalties part of the audit programme. I was working with good people with a passion for what they do. I also got to go to the Brit Awards every year. The first time was when Adele performed Someone Like You, which was quite a moment.

1

I loved working on that Universal account, though. I started in advertising, then one day I was asked to cover in Romford, where I lived and where they had their royalties department. A lot of it’s the same, just numbers on a spreadsheet, but I enjoyed things like allocation testing, which is trying to work out which label – Decca, Polydor, Island etc – owns the record. The only way to do that is to play the music, do the research, look through Wikipedia, Spotify, all the rights, and so on. I did that for one day, then I fought like hell to stay on that job.

I stayed on that audit, then for the last year I was running the revenue royalties part of the audit programme. I was working with good people with a passion for what they do. I also got to go to the Brit Awards every year. The first time was when Adele performed Someone Like You, which was quite a moment.

2

Much as I liked working in music, the hours were too much. I spoke to a recruiter, who had two suitable jobs – one for Sky, the other for BT. My wife worked for Openreach, which is part of BT, and spoke well of them. I was part of the team that designed all the tariffs and did the modelling for the launch of their new mobile position.

I was promoted to Senior Finance Manager, taking over the call centres. It was the worst move I could have made. I should have turned down the promotion. It was all based on call-handling time, which they wanted to cut by half. But you can’t stop people calling, so it never happened.

That was also the time of the terror attacks in France. I remember once walking from Liverpool Street to St Paul’s, getting cordoned off, walking around and coming to another police cordon. I’d just been wandering around this cordoned-off area with a possible car bomb. The same morning my wife was stuck in the Tube because of – again! – a suspected package. I resigned the next day.

2016

In 2016, my mum had a client that needed an outsourced FD. So I moved to Hull for that – and that was the end of London for me. We renamed her business Port Accounting because it was never an accounting practice before. I took a share in the firm and my mum stayed on – she’s still there, although she’s now moving towards retirement.

The company needing the FD was Bureau UK recruitment. They were given an opportunity by another company, who built fibre networks. That company convinced Bureau it was easy work – you just set up the company, recruit the people, do the work. So they did, and I became FD of Bureau Engineering too. A year later the owner said, “I’m piling all this money in and none is coming back.” I explained, “The money’s there, we just don’t get paid until we finish the job. We’ll finish it. The money will pour in.” But he was adamant and said, “If you believe in it so much, why don’t you take it off my hands?” So I did – for £50,000. A few weeks later we got the jobs wrapped up and the money was pouring in.

5G

For a few years, everything went really well. But then the pandemic came along. Suddenly we couldn’t put two people in a van anymore – every job required double the number of vans. Plus you saw all these 5G conspiracy theories growing. We’d get 90% of the job done, then there’d be an area we couldn’t go into because the residents didn’t want us there.

One day we were trying to put a pole in the ground and we couldn’t, because somebody was sitting in the hole to stop us. He thought 5G was going to fry his brain or something. He didn’t understand we were doing fibre, which is a completely different technology. Then Openreach reorganised their contracts, which cost us – and that was the end of Bureau Engineering.

25

On Christmas Day 2021 I was on LinkedIn – not a good sign, you shouldn’t be on there on 25 December – thinking I’d go back to accounting full time. But I saw a message from somebody building a fibre network in Cambridgeshire. I replied saying, “If you’d like, I can help…” He responded the same day, I messaged him back, and he replied again – so effectively it was a business meeting on a day we should both have been thinking about presents, a huge dinner and a Christmas film on the TV.

I had intended to leave engineering. But this opportunity came up, so we formed the new company as Bauer – almost an anagram of Bureau – and four years on we’re still working on fibre infrastructure.

5G

For a few years, everything went really well. But then the pandemic came along. Suddenly we couldn’t put two people in a van anymore – every job required double the number of vans. Plus you saw all these 5G conspiracy theories growing. We’d get 90% of the job done, then there’d be an area we couldn’t go into because the residents didn’t want us there.

One day we were trying to put a pole in the ground and we couldn’t, because somebody was sitting in the hole to stop us. He thought 5G was going to fry his brain or something. He didn’t understand we were doing fibre, which is a completely different technology. Then Openreach reorganised their contracts, which cost us – and that was the end of Bureau Engineering.

25

On Christmas Day 2021 I was on LinkedIn – not a good sign, you shouldn’t be on there on 25 December – thinking I’d go back to accounting full time. But I saw a message from somebody building a fibre network in Cambridgeshire. I replied saying, “If you’d like, I can help…” He responded the same day, I messaged him back, and he replied again – so effectively it was a business meeting on a day we should both have been thinking about presents, a huge dinner and a Christmas film on the TV.

I had intended to leave engineering. But this opportunity came up, so we formed the new company as Bauer – almost an anagram of Bureau – and four years on we’re still working on fibre infrastructure.

36

We have 36 staff, and turned over £11m for the first three-quarters of 2025. Now I can leave my COO and Chief of Staff to run the company while I spend more time on accounting. The work we’re doing now with fibre won’t be around forever. There’s only so many networks to build and so much space on the poles. I imagine in five years’ time, we’ll look back on it as a diversion and I’ll probably be back to accounting.

EV charging points have a lot of potential though. We have about 150 sites to install in Q1 this year – a decent amount of work. I often find it’s when you’re not looking that opportunities pop up. Then you have to say yes, strap in and see where you end up.

36

We have 36 staff, and turned over £11m for the first three-quarters of 2025. Now I can leave my COO and Chief of Staff to run the company while I spend more time on accounting. The work we’re doing now with fibre won’t be around forever. There’s only so many networks to build and so much space on the poles. I imagine in five years’ time we’ll look back on it as a diversion and I’ll probably be back to accounting.

EV charging points have a lot of potential though. We have about 150 sites to install in Q1 this year – a decent amount of work. I often find it’s when you’re not looking that opportunities pop up. Then you have to say yes, strap in and see where you end up.

5

Port Accounting is much smaller than Bauer, at least for now. We currently have five people, but we have a huge range of clients, which suits me; a lot of property investors, some engineering, plumbing, electric, some individuals, some sizeable firms.

I like travel and I like doing international tax law, which is a massively complex and interesting area. This country has become a lot more inward-looking, sadly, so there’s less of that. But accounting is what gives me the opportunity to build something permanent. Maybe not as Port Accounting, but we could merge and grow. That really interests me, so a lot of what I do now is about building experience. I love it when I get new clients from a different sector.

5

Port Accounting is much smaller than Bauer, at least for now. We currently have five people, but we have a huge range of clients, which suits me; a lot of property investors, some engineering, plumbing, electric, some individuals, some sizeable firms.

I like travel and I like doing international tax law, which is a massively complex and interesting area. This country has become a lot more inward-looking, sadly, so there’s less of that. But accounting is what gives me the opportunity to build something permanent. Maybe not as Port Accounting, but we could merge and grow. That really interests me, so a lot of what I do now is about building experience. I love it when I get new clients from a different sector.

1

We have a one-year old daughter called Persephone, named after a Greek goddess. It’s a weird and wonderful story involving the underworld and kidnapping, but also the seasons as she spent half the year in hell and half on Earth. And my wife always liked the name.

Persephone is good as gold – she goes to bed about 7.30, sleeps straight through and wakes up about 9am. She often comes into work with me. She’s quite happy just to sit on my lap.

1

We have a one-year old daughter called Persephone, named after a Greek goddess. It’s a weird and wonderful story involving the underworld and kidnapping, but also the seasons as she spent half the year in hell and half on Earth. And my wife always liked the name.

Persephone is good as gold – she goes to bed about 7:30, sleeps straight through and wakes up about 9am. She often comes into work with me. She’s quite happy just to sit on my lap.

35

I was thrilled and surprised to be named one of the top 35 CA Rising Stars for 2025 by ICAS. I think it’s mainly down to the range of work I do, both with Bauer Engineering and Port Accounting. One way or another I have seen a lot of the economy and that’s a very useful attribute to have. It means if you’re presented with a completely new situation, you can just have the confidence to give it a go. That’s not for everyone.

I also have a real interest in AI, although it does terrify me as a father, because you wonder about jobs and what they will look like in the future. But in accounting, it’s really exciting. I’m interested in the larger, more complicated things. AI will be able to handle some of that, sure, but to my mind, you’ll still need that person involved. We will be able to do data analysis and inform client conversations better. It is a massive win.

35

I was thrilled and surprised to be named one of the top 35 CA Rising Stars for 2025 by ICAS. I think it’s mainly down to the range of work I do, both with Bauer Engineering and Port Accounting. One way or another I have seen a lot of the economy and that’s a very useful attribute to have. It means if you’re presented with a completely new situation, you can just have the confidence to give it a go. That’s not for everyone.

I also have a real interest in AI, although it does terrify me as a father, because you wonder about jobs and what they will look like in the future. But in accounting, it’s really exciting. I’m interested in the larger, more complicated things. AI will be able to handle some of that, sure, but to my mind, you’ll still need that person involved. We will be able to do data analysis and inform client conversations better. It is a massive win.

bauerengineering.co.uk
paccs.co.uk