Rob is a proud Tasmanian, growing up in Devonport. He took a job straight out of high school with the local branch of Wise Lord & Fergusson, Chartered Accountants.

In early 1972 he moved to Melbourne where he was employed with Wallace McMullin & Smail, a very proactive accounting firm that encouraged staff to learn through exposure to clients and their real life circumstances.

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Rob returned to Tasmania in late 1975. 36 years in public practice followed, based in Devonport and building the firm, by the time he sold his equity out nearly 3 years ago, to 20+ staff with a branch office in Hobart.

Initially in partnership with Ben Cocker, Rob was able to use his skills in business structuring, tax planning, superannuation and estate planning to rapidly expand his client base.

Following Ben Cocker’s retirement, Rob merged his firm with Maggs Shearer & Brownrigg, to form Atkinson Gibson.

During the ‘80’s Atkinson Gibson expanded rapidly both through generic growth and mergers with other firms. At its zenith it had some 10 partners and over 40 staff in offices in Devonport, Burnie, Launceston and Smithton with satellites in Stanley, King Island, Deloraine, Scottsdale, St Helens and Swansea.

Rob’s focus became the harnessing of talented young accountants to provide a diverse range of services in a multi-discipline professional practice to an eclectic group of clients. He developed a strong network of expert colleagues with legal, accounting, audit and taxation expertise in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart and used this to provide leading edge services to his clients.

Rob’s philosophical approach to the delivery of professional services climaxed in the rebranding of Rob’s section of Atkinson Gibson under the name “Synectic Group” in 2006.

Synectic =  the integration of people with diverse abilities, knowledge and talents to provide solutions to complex problems and challenges in a synthesised manner.  

A well orchestrated succession plan allowed Rob to divest his equity in the Synectic Group to two of his long-serving and highly respected staff. He established Beach Business & Financial in 2013.