Following a law degree from Cambridge and a short period in industry, James Mendelssohn spent 10 years developing the marketing functions within two major accountancy practices, both in the UK and overseas.
He then established a marketing consultancy, focused on the professional services sector, before taking time out to study for an MBA, with his thesis looking at management structures within international networks of professional services firms.
In 1999, James became the Chief Executive of MSI Global Alliance (MSI), a worldwide association of mid-tier law and accounting firms, with over 250 member firms in over 100 countries. In 2013, MSI won the prestigious International Accounting Bulletin publication’s ‘International Association of the Year’.
On stepping down from his full-time role with MSI, James established Firm Management Associates, focusing on providing management advice to mid-sized services firms.
Firm Management could be described as a consultancy – but James does not see himself as a consultant. He is simply someone who has worked with and observed over 250 mid-sized law and accounting firms and is interested in working with such firms to explore how they could and should be managed.
If you would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact James at Firm Management Associates.
E: jmendelssohn@firmmanagement.co.uk
www.firmmanagement.co.uk
What publishing has done for James
‘When I was first contemplating the option of developing a consulting business, a friend said: “To succeed, you will need to write a book”. It’s still early days, but the early indications are that he was right!
‘Publishing Life after Boris has, without doubt, raised my profile considerably amongst potential clients. It has provided me with an invaluable tool to enable me to talk directly to firms that I would like to work with, and it has also been the catalyst for some interesting discussions about a number of possible speaking engagements. Even in more general conversations, the fact that I have had a book published certainly adds an extra dimension.
‘Perhaps the most interesting facet of starting on the publishing route … is where it will lead. Although I had originally anticipated Life after Boris as being a one-off, further ideas are already beginning to formulate in my mind for possible sequels, and one reader called me recently about developing a family of “Boris” books, each one focusing on a different management theme.
‘All in all, publishing has been transformational in terms of my approach to developing my business. It has been fun too.’
What James says about working with SRA Books
‘I had written the first draft of the book before I spoke to Sue, and I had also looked at the self-publishing route. But the further you go down that road, the more you realise how many different stages there are in the process, each one of which needs to be carefully addressed if your book is to live up to its full potential.
‘Having been introduced to Sue, it was just a huge relief to know that everything was being handled in a professional and organised way and within a very short space of time, Life after Boris was published in a format and style that portrayed exactly the image and message that I was trying to get across. There is no way that I would have achieved this on my own.’
Authored by James Mendelssohn
Our authors
- Marianne Abib-Pech
- Reg Athwal
- Kate Atkin
- Ambrose and Jo Blowfield
- Rob Brown
- William Buist
- Tony Burgess and Julie French
- Steve Bustin
- Matthew Chuck and Doug D’Aubrey
- Chantal Cooke
- John Dashfield
- Stephen Davis
- Melanie de Miguel
- Anna Del Conte and Michelle Berriedale-Johnson
- Jack Delmonte
- Angi Egan
- Tom Evans
- Arti Halai
- Gerry Harrington
- Roger Harrop
- Robin Hills
- Della Hudson
- Andrew Jenkins
- Gene Johnson
- Tim Johnson
- Joolz Lewis
- Sue McGregor
- James Mendelssohn
- Kate Mercer
- Palma Michel
- Michelle Mills-Porter
- Sue Mitchell
- Neil Munz-Jones
- Shaz Nawaz
- Jim O’Connor
- Nikki Owen
- Brad Parkes
- Lynda Shaw
- Mel Sherwood
- Elaine Steane
- Chloë Thomas
- Daryl Woodhouse and Garry Smith
- Vicki Wusche