By Jeremy Skidmore
After nearly 52 years in his profession and several decades as the pre-eminent accountant in the travel industry, the views of Chris Photi carry plenty of weight.
He’s seemingly in constant demand to speak at events and share his knowledge, gleaned from working with up to 300 industry clients at his family-owned company, White Hart Associates (WHA), where he is head of travel and leisure.
“I looked down the list of the top 250 Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL) holders and I’d acted for 55% of them at some stage,” he says, matter-of-factly, without any hint of arrogance.
He’s currently feeling optimistic, but sounds a note of caution about the rest of the year.
“I think the market is still pretty good, demand is high and that’s reflected in the price of packages, which have gone up by about 4.2%, which is more than inflation. That can’t happen if there isn’t the demand,” he says.
“That’s not to say profits have gone up because of course, costs such as energy and staffing, have risen.
“I’m optimistic, but I do have concerns about this year, because there is uncertainty with the new government in the US and the newish government in the UK that hasn’t covered itself in glory yet. We’ll have to see how that transmits itself to consumer sentiment.
“Everybody is being hit by the increase in National Insurance contributions. The government needed to raise money, but it says it wants to promote growth. There were 50,000 job losses last month. Companies are thinking about trimming their teams or not taking on additional people.”
WHA has a diverse portfolio, ranging from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) up to giants like booking.com.
“I suppose you do get a bit of a thrill that the largest and most successful travel company in the world values your expertise,” said Chris. “But my real love is the SME. I admire the companies that find a niche and tend to be immune to the vagaries of the market.
“The swimming specialist, SwimTrek, for open-water swimmers, is one. Those type of businesses tend to do well because people will find the money for their hobby or passion, even in tough times.”
It takes a lot to surprise Chris, but the resilience of the travel industry since the dark days of 2020 and 2021 has taken him aback.
“Yes, it is amazing as a lot of balance sheets were shot to bits, and I expected more to go bust. But the bounce back has been incredible. Companies are now going to the Civil Aviation Authority and asking for their subordinated loans [money put into a company with a guarantee not to remove it until finances improve] back because they are now in a better place. But you also have to remember that the government support measures, like furlough, were also amazing.”
Showing his worth
Chris has built his reputation on being the go-to expert on travel industry regulation and licensing – a dry subject for some but one that has reaped its rewards.
It’s also led to a wonderful story about how not to underestimate anyone.
“Some years ago, the International Air Travel Association (IATA) had changed its rules and a large travel company was hit with a demand for £25m of security. The company went to their auditors but the auditors’ head of travel said they didn’t do that work and referred them to me.
“The finance director of the travel company didn’t know me, was used to working with big companies and was rather patronising, saying he didn’t think I could help. I said I could look at it, but he didn’t want to pay my hourly rate for what he thought was speculative work.
“So, I said OK, I’ll offer you a contingency. It’ll probably cost you more than an hourly rate, but I’ll charge £25k if I solve the problem and nothing if I don’t. He was happy, he thought it was a good deal.
“They sent the paperwork over and I knew within five minutes how to get IATA to release their demand. It took me an hour and I billed the finance director £25k. He said, ‘I’m not paying £25k for one hour’s work’.
Chris pauses before delivering the killer line which will no doubt raise a smile from anyone who has worked for years to develop an expertise in a subject.
“I told him, ‘You’re not paying for an hour’s work; you’re paying for decades of experience’.”
He adds: “I also told him I’m the only one who reads all 500 pages of the IATA handbook! It got a bit heated, I threatened to sue and he reluctantly paid. As a parting shot, I told him his audit partner said we should have charged double and he said he would never use us again. I told him he’d be back if he ever had another problem.”
The story has a delicious footnote.
“A year later we get a call from solicitors wanting some work on behalf of their client, but they refused to say who they were and sent over some paperwork with the name redacted.
“I could immediately tell it was the same client. I called the solicitor and said, ‘you can tell that X from company Y that I knew he’d be back!’”
The early days
Chris left school in 1973 and joined his father, who was an accountant in industry and had just been made redundant.
“He’d done the books for some small businesses on the side and decided to make that his focus and I learnt the ropes as an articled clerk in those days. By 1979 he was unwell, and I started on my own.
“In those days, people were writing up their books in ledgers. Computerisation in the late 1980s and 1990s encouraged me to work with more travel companies because before that it was very hard work with the vast number of transactions and how they were recorded.”
Known as A C Photi and co, after Chris’s dad, undercurrents of racism in the 1990s forced them into a name change.
“I’m proud of the family name but there was a certain connotation about ethnic accountants in those days, so we decided to change the name. We were located on White Hart Lane, Barnes and didn’t have a big budget to blow on a fancy rebrand, so just called ourselves White Hart Associates.
“I don’t really like the name to be honest and prefer the abbreviation WHA, but so many people know us as White Hart. Lots of people ask me if I support Spurs because of White Hart Lane – I’m a Manchester United season ticket holder!”
Now located in Richmond, Surrey, WHA has around 30 staff including Chris’s sister Nikki Spoor, the company’s travel, audit and tax director and his sons Luke Photi, practice manager and head of making tax digital, and Elliot Photi, finance and regulatory analyst.
Building partnerships
In 2016, Chris was the first practising professional to be inducted into the British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame and, at 68, is content with the size of the business and most proud of what he calls building partnerships with his clients.
“We are partners with our clients. It’s often a misused word, but we stood by our clients at the toughest times during Covid.
“We reduced all our rates and did a lot of contingency work. Clients needed money and we would do all that and only got paid in the event of them raising the money. We partnered them up with every government incentive scheme going, often working from 7am to 7pm.
“I do really feel for my clients and want them to succeed. I’d like to be a colder fish but that’s not really me. We pulled out all the stops and that’s why our clients are still partners now.
“Meanwhile, bond companies, trade associations and credit card companies weren’t partners, they just protected their own corners. That was the saddest thing.
“Travel companies were just being told, sorry, we’re not renewing your bond, you’re on your own. It was just so self-serving and could have been handled very differently.”
Some of WHA’s staff have flexible working in their contracts but new recruits are now required to work in the office five days a week.
“I’m old school like that. If you’re a trainee you’re not going to learn from other people in the same way if you are working from home. When I was younger, I also used to learn a lot in bars listening to conversations from more experienced members of staff and there’s an element of that you miss.
“I get the lifestyle argument and commuting is a pain. It adds two hours to my day, there and back, but that’s just the way it is. I’m not a great fan of government departments and travel industry associations that have turned working from home into a fine art.”
The hunters and the hunted
With the industry buoyant, there seems to be more travel events than ever before and Chris enjoys them, although he’s sceptical about how worthwhile some of the overseas conferences are for businesses.
“We’re a gregarious industry and people couldn’t wait to get out after being locked down. There are so many events. It’s all very enjoyable but if we’re honest, some of the overseas trips are jollies.
“I think there is a bit too much of it and my main concern is that conferences are full of the hunters rather than the hunted. There are bankers, regulators, insurance companies and brokers and, yes, accountants, but less and less travel people.
“Back in the day there would be 2,000 people at a conference with 80% of them in travel, and it was a wonderful place to do business. Now, they’re much smaller, it’s meeting up with old buddies which, again, is very enjoyable but not that useful.”
Retirement not on the cards
Blocked arteries led to Chris suffering a heart attack the month before Covid struck and he needed two stents fitted. At 68 and having earned enough to comfortably retire, has he not considered putting his feet up?
“I’d only ever had seven days off work through illness, so that was a bit of a shock. It does make you think about things. I’m now pretty sensible about what I eat and drink.
“But I enjoy the work and it’s not money that drives me. I’m still good at it and I try to get a balance by taking Fridays off, although it doesn’t always happen.
“Of course, retiring is a bit different when it’s a family firm. I do sometimes think I can’t be doing this at 75, but I might be. I always thought I’d retire at 50 and play golf but when I got there, I didn’t have that feeling.
“Maybe there will be a light bulb moment when I think I don’t want to do this anymore. But that’s not currently in my thinking – there’s plenty of fight left in me yet!”
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