ACCOUNTANT Adam Wilson of Salisbury financial services company Smith & Williamson met members of The Barbarians cast at Salisbury Playhouse last week and discovered there was much more the company could do to help than just sponsor the production.

It came to light that Pritykin, played by Adam Smethurst, the timber merchant supplying the engineering works that bring the railway to a small Russian town, and around which the plot is centred, has been quietly swindling his bosses including Tsyganov (Jay Villiers).

Clearly some good advice for Tsyganov would not go amiss, the company reckoned!

Smith & Williamson has contributed to the success of Salisbury Playhouse firstly through the Christmas 2002 production of Elsie and Norm's Macbeth and now through its association with this large-cast epic piece by Gorky.

"It is vital that local businesses take an active role in supporting resources such as Salisbury Playhouse," said Mr Wilson, a director of Smith & Williamson.

"A city with a thriving cultural life will continue to attract top quality personnel to the area, ensuring everyone's success from a recruitment perspective.

"The Playhouse works hard to offer a breadth of programming that gives potential to all and we are delighted to be working with them in this and other ways."

Barbarians runs until Saturday.