"I am an accountant and therefore too boring to be of interest," declared John Cleese in one of Monty Python's crueller observational sketches.

The image of a grey-suited man in horn-rimmed glasses punching equations into a calculator under a teetering pile of account books still lingers.

But times have changed and Beverley Morgan, a partner at Ashdown Hurrey Group in Bexhill and Hastings, is nothing like the stereotype.

"I am always flattered when people say you do not look like an accountant - I take it as a great compliment," she says, only half-jokingly.

"One of the big problems is people still think it is all about number crunching. Sure you have to be able to do your sums but it is now more a people business.

"Most businesses have their own computers and can fill their tax returns online so if they wanted to they wouldn't need to employ an accountant.

"So we have had to bring something else to the party. We forge relationships with our clients, look at their business and see how they could be more profitable. A large part of it now is consultancy."

Beverley, 39, is still a rare commodity - a female partner. Like business in general, the upper echelons are still largely male dominated.

She says: "I don't know why there are still so few women partners. We have a number of women in high ranking positions here but generally it's a mystery."

Beverley joined Ashdown Hurrey in 1991 after qualifying as a chartered accountant. But unlike most of today's crop of accountants she did not go to university. Instead she took a foundation course in accountancy at Brighton Polytechnic and then found work with a firm in Hastings who trained her on the job.

Since joining Ashdown, Beverley has accumulated a wealth of experience across the accountancy and business consulting sector.

She has represented a varied range of clients including sole traders through to large limited companies and partnerships. And some accounts need more attention than others.

"I had a woman the other day who had not been in touch with the Inland Revenue for four years and they were on to her," she says.

"It was quite a challenge but that can be part of the fun, really. We basically had to go in there and get to a point where the IR were happy and she could go forward."

Beverley has also balanced having a family with the pressures of fulfilling her work responsibilities.

She worked part time for four years in the mid-Nineties while she brought up her two children, ten-year-old Angharad and Griff, seven.

Beverley said: "Having a family and busy career of course posed challenges, especially when the children were younger.

"It basically meant cramming a five- day working week into three days but my clients were always interested in me as a person so there was never any conflict.

"Like most working parents I have to occasionally juggle my diary to ensure everything is covered but I enjoy a great relationship with my clients because they know they can always contact me and have issues quickly addressed."

Despite a high pressure role at work and a busy domestic schedule, Beverley is very aware of the need to make time to remain fit and in good health.

She is a regular runner, swimmer and cyclist and has completed two half-marathons and is soon to compete in a swimming gala. Beverley, who was born in Gosport but grew up in Hastings, describes herself as a home girl and never fancied working for one of the major groups like KPMG.

She said: "Becoming a partner at Ashdown Hurrey feels like recognition of lots of hard work. It was always in the back of my head but was never a severe ambition.

"But it helps me to be able to walk into a room and say I am a partner. The job itself has not changed that much - it's mainly a status thing.

"I do have a real sense of achievement and hope I can bring a new dimension to the partnership, at the same time as meeting and exceeding the expectations of my clients."

Ashdown has four offices, in Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings and Bexhill, and employs about 100 people. It has has a number of women in key positions, including a director of human resources, payroll manager and specialist mortgage consultant.

Friday July 09, 2004