Harry Lubbock, who qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1929, founded the firm. It was rare for a young man of his class to enter into what was then, undoubtedly, an elite profession. Harry was an intensely private man and remained unmarried (although he lived with a charming lady) and of course had no children. He was a man of principle. In the 1940s it was the practice of Chartered Accountants to charge a premium of something like £500 to young men (no girls in the ‘good ole days’) to take them into their offices to study to become qualified. It was a five year apprenticeship during which the clerk had no wages. If they were lucky they might have been given a little pocket money, such as four shillings or ten shillings a week. There were stringent examinations to be passed and the study was by correspondence course, home study, evening classes and lectures. When Lubbock Fine’s erstwhile managing partner, Stanley Prashker, joined the firm in the 1940s Harry took him on, charging no premium and even paid him £2 per week! Opportunities back then were few and far between and this was a great offer.
Harry started his own practice as soon as he qualified and he is shown in the Institute of Chartered Accountants' year book for 1930 as having offices first in London Wall EC2 and shortly afterwards in High Street, Whitechapel, E1. Harry had a younger brother Reggie who worked with him for several years before qualifying as a certified accountant in 1939. Reggie is remembered by those who knew him as a gentle man and good communicator who bothered to get to know the staff. However, Harry was very definitely the boss. Harry’s abiding interest was not accountancy – but politics. He was an active member of the Communist Party and was involved in many activities promoting its interest. As a result he had friends and connections beyond the Iron Curtain as well as many friends in England with the same affiliations. This provides a clue as to the firm’s entry into the Czech Republic some twenty years after his death. It is also interesting to note that in the 1940s there were at least three Communist Party members in the House of Commons.
In-between all his political activities, Harry did build up a practice. Initially, it had its roots in smaller Jewish businesses a few of which inevitably grew into larger businesses with the impetus of the war, together with some larger clients derived from his political connections. The firm was the auditor of the Daily Worker (the then Communist Party newspaper) and had a number of jobs from businessmen of similar political affiliations. There were also a number of jobs from Eastern European governments who had business interests in England and were prepared to entrust them to Harry.
The one client which dominated the practice was Copes Pools, then a major football pools promoter. During the season, Harry and Reggie and all of the three staff were totally engaged on that client from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon when the Dividends were announced. This meant everyone working on Saturday from when the football results came out until about midnight and sometimes on Sunday too. This was great for the articled clerks because as the work was intensive, they received extra pay. This was a great attraction making a real financial impact on their lives.
By the late 1950s Stanley Prashker and Philip Fine were both partners of the firm, playing a major role in the running and development of the practice, which by then had some twenty or more staff. Harry and Reggie took a relatively back seat role, prompting Phil and Stanley to buy them out in 1959. The new management set about developing the firm through internal growth and by acquisition into an independent medium size firm of chartered accountants serving what might be reasonably described as a predominantly Jewish business client base.
The early 1970s were taken up with the absorption of further acquisitions and the problems of being a much larger practice. In 1972, Walker Newman Samuels merged their practice with Lubbock Fine bringing Geoff Goodyear, Alan Cushnir and others to the firm. During these years there was national political havoc. A major miners’ strike brought in its wake serious fuel shortages and compulsory three day working weeks on the days when electricity could be supplied and even then for only a limited amount of time. Half of the week the firm worked by candle light and candles became a commodity in very short supply. There was a wage freeze introduced by a desperate Government trying to control inflation, an extraordinary situation in which the management was not permitted to increase salaries. It wasn’t without its benefits to those who ran their own businesses!
Philip Fine retired in 1985 by which time the firm had over 100 staff and was bursting out of its Bedford Row premises. An office move was on the horizon. 1983 also saw the establishment of Russell Bedford International with a philosophy which remains in place today. The move to City Forum took place in June 1990, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rejection of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe. Harry must have turned in his grave. Due to the firm’s history and background, opportunities for work and expansion outside the UK into this whole new world were sought and found. As the ‘velvet revolution’ took hold, many more opportunities unfolded for the firm in that region.
The 1990s were dominated by a serious economic recession leading to very difficult conditions affecting the whole accountancy profession. David Levy took over as managing partner in 1992 when Stanley Prashker retired. Lubbock Fine had to contend with a deep recession and very difficult economic conditions affecting all professional firms in London. Fortunately, we emerged relatively unscathed from this, retaining our independence and reputation.
In 2000, Lubbock Fine welcomed Geoff Goodyear as managing partner and he presses on with the sterling work, ensuring that Lubbock Fine continues to become leaner and more focused on the markets in which it operates. The efforts that were put in during the tough times, in refining our traditional markets and developing new business areas, have now begun to bear fruit. Those coupled with general growth in the business sectors from which we draw our clients, has led to a renewed feeling of optimism.
