Factory's former accountant, Jan Gregory, is retiring. There's an interesting article about him in this week's Greater Manchester Business Week, pp.16-17.
On a sweaty Hooky turning up at their offices on his bike, he said, "One senior partner asked me why there was this bike in reception and I just said 'Well, they pay us a lot of money."
Why music legends put their true faith in money man Jan
JAN Gregory will never forget the moment he got a call from a colleague at the office, questioning why there was a man on a bike getting changed in the lobby. That man was Manchester music legend Peter Hook, who had cycled in to go over the finances of the Hacienda nightclub and his band New Order. It would turn out to be one of a series of colourful meetings accountant Gregory would have with Hook, his bandmates and Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. “Hooky was on one of his health kicks at the time and was all sweaty in the office,” says Gregory, set to retire from Ernst & Young this week after 35 years. “One senior partner asked me why there was this bike in reception and I just said ‘Well, they pay us a lot of money’.” Gregory, 56, started his accountancy career in 1977 and, after brief spells working for Ernst & Young in Holland and London, moved to Manchester in 1980. He found himself working with Factory Records due to the accountancy firm’s reputation in the entertainment world. New Order, formed by Hook, along with Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, was one of Factory’s leading acts at the time. Meanwhile, the Hacienda was launched in 1982 and soon developed a reputation as one of the world’s top nightspots. However, the club had well-documented financial issues. Despite turning over tens of thousands a night during its heyday, it rarely broke even due to spiralling costs and declining bar sales, with clubbers turning to drugs over alcohol. As a result, the Hacienda’s running costs were largely supported by New Order’s record sales. Gregory and his colleagues worked with Factory for 10 years. “They were all artistic people and their focus was on developing creative things. They were not necessarily always too worried about the administration of the companies,” he says. “So we had some entertaining meetings. We had one meeting when Bernard Sumner came in via Boots, where he had bought a tape cassette recorder. Everybody was going to be arguing about something and he wanted to record the meeting. “Our role involved managing their tax position, which is complicated because there are different bits of income coming in, such as advances to produce records, then there are huge costs to consider. “It is a case of deciding which costs are allowable, which is hard because there can be all sorts of cash going out – if you have a band you have to pay roadies and there are all sorts of things you have to pay for at the last minute that you don’t anticipate.” Factory Records was declared bankrupt in 1992, while the Hacienda eventually closed in 1997, amid ongoing financial troubles.
Gregory and his colleagues were there until the bitter end and even get a mention in Hook’s book The Hacienda: How Not To Run A Club. As the business neared collapse, Gregory’s team asked for their £10,000 fee up front, which Hook is less than complimentary about. “Our relationship with them was a love-hate relationship. Tony Wilson always called me ‘love’ because that was what he was like,” says Gregory. “There were times when they were very complimentary about us, then the next moment they were shouting and swearing at us, but we just took it because that’s who they were. “It was volatile but it was also a lot of fun. Having met Hooky in recent years, we get on fine and we were able to reminisce about old times.” Originally from Shropshire, Gregory started his career at 21, training with Shrewsbury-based firm Marshall & Company. He took a role with London-based Turquands Barton and Mayhew in 1977, which later became part of Ernst & Young. Gregory, a father of four sons, vividly remembers his first day in Manchester, as it was the day John Lennon was shot. At 32, he was promoted to partner. One of Gregory’s proudest achievements is launching Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year scheme as a national programme in 2000. Gregory was instrumental in developing the programme in the north and Midlands, which had its awards ceremony this week. “The fact the awards continue to thrive shows this city really does have such a great entrepreneurial culture and what I have seen change over the years is that we now have a multi-sector economy,” he says. “In the 60s, Manchester was a textiles city and little else but a recent analysis of our client base showed we are now across a whole range of different sectors and we must be a pretty good barometer.” Gregory’s work on the Entrepreneur of the Year awards reflects the niche he carved for himself, working with small and medium- sized enterprises. In the 80s, he was tasked with setting up a separate group for SMEs within Ernst & Young. “We marketed it very differently and it was about helping companies to grow by helping them raise finance, do business plans and things like that, rather than just being auditors. “We brought people from different teams together, like audit, tax and corporate finance, to work with small businesses to help them grow.” During his 35 years, Gregory has worked with a string of well-known companies, at different stages of their development. Examples include the American Golf Discount Centre and the Penrith-based figurine makers Lilliput Lane, which he advised as it listed on the AIM and was sold to an American company. Over his 35 years, Gregory, who lives in Alderley Edge, has also seen the accountancy world change. “The thing with all the professions today is specialisation. We were more generalist in the 1980s and clients very much viewed you as an extension of their management team,” he says. “But the problem we have got today is that we have become very specialist. “For example, within tax, we will have specialists in VAT, personal tax, corporation tax, customs and excise duty and so on. “It is great to be able to offer clients those specialisms but when you try to create new partners, you also need people with a more rounded commercial experience.”
