eter Barrett is a conservative family man who has worked in accounting for over a decade in Bermuda.

But he said he has now reached the stage in his life when it is time to go out on his own ? and has just set up his new firm, Accounting, Compliance and Consulting Services (ACCS) Ltd.

?It is always a bit of a leap going it on your own, but the time was right to do it now,? said Mr. Barrett.

?Although there is more safety working for someone else, you do not get the same satisfaction as you do working for yourself.?

Mr. Barrett this week left his job at Bank of Bermuda in Global Fund Services and will now be busy setting up the company and securing clients for his firm.

Mr. Barrett is Bermudian born and raised.

His father, an Englishman, came out on contract in 1957 to do City Hall, met his mother (a Stubbs) in 1958 and the pair were married in 1959.

At school Mr. Barrett found that he was good at maths, but more importantly had a logical brain that could work through problems, and so accountancy seemed like a logical choice.

?It is not so much being good at maths that makes an accountant good, but it is more about following principles,? he said.

?That combined with a critical shortage of accountants on the Island, led him to the field of accounting.

?It was 1993, so there were many job opportunities in that field,? he said.

He was offered a post with Coopers and Lines, where he stayed for over four years.

?That was for me, like any accountant, my big break.?

There he was kept busy working on all types of audits. ?I asked to be put on a diversified audit pool,? he said, wanting to give himself as wide a remit as possible and not just working on the captive companies which are the main fodder for the new batch of accountants.

There he had the chance to work for companies like Pure Water, BGA and Bermuda Janitorial and cut his teeth on these local companies.

?It was a very rewarding part of the job,? he said. ?You would go in, and if you did a good job they were so happy and you felt very rewarded.?

And it was this kind of work he missed when, after a year out to look after his daughter, he went on to work at Bank of Bermuda.

?I have been at Bank of Bermuda for four years, and I have enjoyed my job there.

?But about six months ago I started to miss the diversity I had known at Coopers and Lines.

?I missed different professional challenges I had known before.

?The bank has treated me very well, but I wanted to work on different things ? and I did not want to only use a small percentage of my knowledge for doing one job.

?I did not want to forget 90 percent of what I know.?

So he went to Conyers Dill and Pearman to set up his company, and is now rearing to go ? and will soon be looking for others to join him in his venture.

Mr. Barrett said he knows that there is a huge pool of work out there to be had, and hopes that his company will be able to scoop up some of it.

?I will be looking at all the large companies and offering accounting services.

?I have fund services experience, and that will be appealing to a certain type of client.

?In fact before I have even started on the venture properly, I have met people in the street who have asked me to look into their work when I get started.

?So it looks as if there is a big demand out there ? and I hope that this company can tap into it.?

But Mr. Barrett said he has to be very careful not to take on too much work?- as that could be as harmful as no work at all.

?At the moment it is only me, and you don?t want to be in the position of agreeing to do work and then finding you don?t have time to do and have to go back to a client with that news.

?I would like to grow and if business picks up I will be looking for executive vice presidents in auditing and in compliance.

?There is a lot to do now, but I am hoping that the business will go well.?

Mr. Barrett?s website is on www.accslimited.com.