The chairman of one of the county's leading business advisors has retired after 42 years with the business.

Clive Stevens of Kreston Reeves marked the occasion with a drinks reception at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, joined by friends, colleagues and clients.

Mr Stevens, who won the Outstanding Contribution award at last year's KEiBAs, joined the firm’s Sandwich office in 1977 and he then went on to work in their Margate office.

Promotion saw him work in the firm’s Canterbury and Sittingbourne offices before becoming a partner of the firm in 1989 and managing partner in 1995.

Under his leadership, the firm expanded west, merging or acquiring practices in Chatham, London and across Sussex with the merger with Spofforths in 2016.

He became chairman of the firm in 2013.

In addition to heading up its international network, he is also a Kent Ambassador, Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and a past director of Locate in Kent.

He is a council member of the industry’s professional body ICAEW, a member of the Institute of Directors and the Royal Society of Arts and chairman of the Turner Contemporary Gallery in Margate.

Mr Stevens said: "I’ve been involved with managing the firm for the last 25 years and it is much more than a business, it works at the forefront of a profession which in my view has obligations to act in a wider public interest which also serves the communities in which we work.

"This is what makes the firm and the people in it valuable and I think this is the secret to your future success in a rapidly changing and volatile world.

"I will still continue with my roles in the wider profession and community and will be a consultant to Kreston Reeves so the word retirement is a bit of a misnomer.”

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