Practice round-up: haysmacintyre LLP, MHA Monahans, BKL and more

haysmacintyre LLP nominated for national charity award

The mid-tier accountancy firm haysmacintyre LLP is set to be honoured by Anthony Nolan, the blood cancer charity, at an awards ceremony held at the Tower of London later this month.

The firm has been shortlisted for the Organisational Fundraiser of the Year Award at the Anthony Nolan Supporter Awards 2019, taking place on November 28th. Back for its seventh year, the ceremony recognises the outstanding achievements of the volunteers, fundraisers, and campaigners helping the charity save lives.

Since 2018, haysmacintyre has organised a series of fundraising events, such as wine tasting, a Fifa tournament, or a cycle to Brighton, to help raise over £18,000 for the charity.

The firm of chartered accountants and tax advisors have also sponsored Anthony Nolan’s Christmas Carols, collecting £10,000 for the association.

On their nomination, Siobhan Holmes and Emma Maile, Senior Audit Managers at the firm, said: “We were thrilled and really excited. We do this in our own time, so to have the nomination and to be recognised is really lovely. Aside from raising money, it has been so great to see how many people internally, as well as their partners, signed up to the register after hearing about the charity.”

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan, added: “It is remarkable to see how many people support our work to find a match for those in need of a stem cell transplant. Without them, none of our life-saving work would be possible.

“The staff across haysmacintyre LLP have shown tremendous commitment to Anthony Nolan by continuously going above and beyond in their fundraising efforts.”

MHA Monahans supports rising young stars

At the independent accountancy firm MHA Monahans, two trainee team members have been recognised as top performers in global industry awards.

Danielle Rolt, an assistant based in MHA Monahans’ Bath office, has been awarded the Railton Prize for top results in her Business Strategy and Technology professional paper from the ICAEW .

Leanne Anderson, a Senior Associate based in MHA Monahans’ Swindon office, also came first in the South West for her ACA advanced level paper and is now fully qualified.

Graduating from the University of the West of England (UWE) and the University in Portsmouth, both Danielle and Leanne joined MHA Monahans with first-class degrees in accounting and finance. They are currently continuing their professional studies by undertaking the globally recognised chartered accountancy qualification, the ACA.

Simon Tombs, Managing Partner  at MHA Monahans, commented: “Danielle and Leanne’s hard work has paid off and they undoubtedly have bright futures ahead of them.  We’re all extremely proud of their achievements and pleased that we could support them in their learning journey through our extensive training programme.”

BKL team-up with growing advisory and cloud accounting firm Green & Purple

The chartered accountants and tax adviser firm BKL has just announced the acquisition of Green & Purple, an innovative firm specialising in chief financial officer-led virtual finance office solutions, aiming at strengthening the service offering of both.

The new partnership was initiated by demand from BKL’s clients for strategic, commercially minded business advice, bringing an added level of support.

Green & Purple’s full virtual finance office (VFO) solution also extends BKL’s offering into bespoke cloud-based accounting, enabling clients to make data-driven decisions in real-time.

The innovative firm offers services such as management accounting, credit control, and cash flow modelling, in which the quality support provided to clients which will be expanded by drawing on BKL’s breadth and depth of experience.

Reflecting on the new collaboration, Dominic Anthony, Partner at BKL, said: “We’re very happy that our two teams have come together. After we started working with Green & Purple on mutual clients in similar sectors and geographies, we realised what a good fit we are: sharing a commitment to providing quality solutions in our chosen fields.

“Green & Purple believe being part of the client’s business helps deliver the biggest impact and this has always been our approach too.

“By formalising our relationship, and by continuing to pool our experience, we’ll be able to make an even greater difference to SMEs and entrepreneurs: meeting their demand for CFO expertise and helping them explore new opportunities. We’re looking forward to working closely with Green & Purple to support businesses in London, Cambridge and beyond.”

Pete Carter, Founding Director at Green & Purple, added: “Having worked alongside BKL on various projects and clients in the past, we’ve increasingly seen how complementary our offerings are. Coming together now with BKL gives Green & Purple and its clients access to a broader range of tax, compliance and technical expertise than ever before, and enables BKL to offer a real-time, bespoke and advisory-based finance function to theirs.

“The growth opportunities arising from the combination are really exciting, and we’re looking forward to getting to meeting BKL colleagues and clients alike.”

Streets Mark Carr relocates offices

Following an increase in demand for their services generated by the merger of Mark Carr & Co with Street Chartered Accountants, the Brighton firm has relocated its offices in Brighton and Hove to a more contemporary office in the town’s central business district.

The office, entitled Century House, offers a 21st-century setting that ensures the firm provides its staff with and modern working environment as well as for client meetings.

Mark Carr, director, explained: “Having established a good reputation for looking after clients in the entertainment sector and creative industries generally, we have benefited greatly from new client referrals from existing clients who value and like the personal and professional service we offer.

“A good understanding of their needs and the sector they work in has proved a real winner. We have also found that our new location and our reputation locally has given rise to an increase in new clients from other key sectors of the Brighton business community, including those engaged in gaming and technology.”

“Whilst we look after many clients who live or work locally, we also expect to see an increase in high profile clients that are more London centric and even from overseas that are looking for a specialist firm like ours.

TaxAssist officially launches shop in heart of Norwich

The firm has just celebrated the launch of its new shop on Ber Street, which opened its doors late August this year.

Jeremy Gilks, principal at TaxAssist, and his wife have become firmly embedded within their local business community which has resulted in dozens of clients, colleagues and well-wishers dropping by.

Gilks explained: “The shop is in the hub of the busy Ber Street community, which has become a buzzing hive of small independent businesses with a vibrant local traders association. We do not consider ourselves to be typical accountants, which is clear from the look and feel of our modern shop.

“We are passionate about offering a bespoke, tailored service to every kind of small business client and we have adopted the latest software on offer, which allows us to be more responsive to clients’ needs and provides greater efficiencies. But we have a ‘best of both worlds’ approach for those who enjoy using tech and those who prefer just to come in and talk to us.”

Jeremy, who has over 30 years of accountancy experience, wants his shop to become a destination for new start-ups by providing a business hub. This will offer a flexible working environment with space to hire by the hour, half-day, day, week or month.

Read the last practice round-up here.