Gilberts has been part of the St Albans business community for over a century. As an independently owned firm, we decide for ourselves how we give back – and we think it works best close to home, through causes our team cares about and organisations we know well.
Our approach is a practical one. We support local charities, look after the people who work here, and put time back into the profession that trained us.
We focus our support on a small number of local charities, so it goes further and our team gets to know the people behind them.
Youth Talk is a St Albans charity providing counselling and support to young people.
We are proud to be recognised as a Strategic Partner in its Impact Circle – the charity’s network of local businesses supporting young people’s mental health. In December 2025 our donation opened Youth Talk’s Big Give Christmas campaign and, once matched, funded 40 counselling sessions. Our team also supports its events through the year.
Rennie Grove Peace provides hospice care for people with life-limiting illnesses.
Rennie Grove Peace provides hospice care for people living with a progressive, life-limiting illness, and support for their families, including from Grove House here in St Albans. We have supported the charity for a number of years, most visibly through its golf days – including sponsoring a hole at the EIC charity golf day in September 2026 – and its annual Question of Sport evening, which our team (with a little help from our guests) has been known to win.
Alongside these, our partners and team take part in fundraising for other local charities through the year, including One YMCA’s charity golf day.
Much of what we do is led by our people rather than the partners. Our social committee, set up and run by colleagues, organises fundraising alongside its social events, and colleagues regularly bring their own causes into the office - whether that is a bake sale or sponsorship for a run. Where we can, the firm backs them.
We encourage our team to get involved locally, including through the St Albans District Chamber of Commerce and the Beds, Bucks & Herts Society of Chartered Accountants. It builds their networks and keeps us connected to the businesses we serve.
We act for a number of charities and not-for-profit organisations, and understand the pressures their trustees and finance teams work under. We aim to make audit and reporting as straightforward as it can be, so more of their time and money goes to their cause.
We have trained chartered accountants for generations and continue to take on trainees every year – four joined us in September 2026. We fund their ICAEW training, and continue to fund CPD and professional subscriptions once they qualify. Many of our managers and partners trained with us, and we would much rather grow our own people than recruit over them.
We want people to have a career here and a life outside it. Our agile and flexible working policy lets the team balance office and home working, and colleagues can buy or sell holiday to suit their circumstances. Everyone has access to wellbeing support, alongside a pension and life assurance scheme, enhanced sick pay and a cycle to work scheme. We ask the team regularly how we are doing, and act on what they tell us.
A strong culture does not happen by accident. Our social committee keeps a full calendar – from games nights in the office and evenings out to welcome the newest members of the team, through to our Christmas party – so colleagues across departments get to know each other well.
We think firms of our size should have a voice in how audit and reporting develop. Our Managing Partner, Luke Parker, sits on ICAEW's Audit and Assurance Faculty Technical and Practical Audit Committee and contributes to ICAEW working groups and consultation responses on auditing standards and the future of corporate reporting. We have also taken part in the FRC's Audit & Assurance Sandbox initiative, contributing the perspective of a smaller audit practice. Locally, we support the Beds, Bucks & Herts Society of Chartered Accountants and encourage our trainees and qualified staff to take part in its events.
That work keeps us close to changes before they reach our clients - and means the perspective of owner-managed businesses is heard where the rules are made.
New phrase just added from Luke
We have invested early in technology, including AI, to take routine work out of our processes and give our team more time to think about clients' businesses. We do it carefully - with clear rules on client data, tools reviewed for security before use, and our people trained to check the output.
As a firm of around 40 people our footprint is modest, but we take it seriously and want to keep reducing it. Much of what we do comes down to everyday habits, which our team has embraced.
we recycle across the office and try to keep what goes to general waste to a minimum.
client records are held securely in the cloud and documents are shared electronically wherever we can, so we print far less than we used to.
hybrid working means fewer trips into the office each week, and for firm events and evenings out we encourage colleagues to share cars and taxis.
when we choose new technology, including the AI tools we have adopted, we consider its environmental impact alongside security, cost and what it does for clients.
We know there is more we can do, and we are working on it. We will share our progress here as we go.
To enquire about our accounting services in St Albans and the wider Hertfordshire and London areas, contact our office today.
