Member News

Sarah West, managing director of Full Mix Marketing, delivered an insightful keynote address to Friday’s packed Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) East of England Conference on Business-to-Business Marketing.

The popular day-long event, held at Norwich Cathedral’s Hostry on 27th April, is now in its third year. It attracted over 70 delegates from as far away as London and Nottingham, all keen to gather and share hints and tips on successfully marketing their businesses to other companies.

The day was led by the keynote address from Sarah, a CIM Chartered Marketer and founder of the growing Norwich-based agency. Sarah’s presentation focused on the different considerations when marketing to businesses and the lessons she has learnt delivering powerful promotions for her B2B clients.

“It was such an honour to be asked to present” says Sarah. “With a changing economy, evolving forms of media and ever more savvy businesses, it’s important the marketing community come together to share information. We’re making a real name for the East as a hub for B2B expertise.”

The event featured a packed agenda of talks and workshops from experts from across the East and South East, including Norfolk’s 101 Smart Media, Luminous PR and Armstrong Design. Sarah was chosen to share her experience working both within businesses and as the founder of a successful marketing agency.

Sarah has just celebrated ten years as a CIM Chartered Marketer. “Achieving my Chartered status was an important milestone. Clients rightly expect strong skills and results, so they need assurance we know what we’re talking about” says Sarah. “There’s always new developments, so it’s vital that marketers demonstrate professional leadership and keep learning.”

More details of Full Mix Marketing and their services can be found at www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk

Leathes Prior Solicitors is delighted to announce the promotion of two key members of staff. Tej Thakkar and Sabina Haag have both been promoted to Associate level. Tej joined Leathes Prior in 2011 as a paralegal, and started his training contract with us in 2012. He qualified as a Solicitor in 2014, working ever since in our specialist Regulatory & Defence Team (which sits as part of our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team) supporting Partner Tim Cary. Sabina joined Leathes Prior as a trainee solicitor in 2011, qualifying as a Solicitor in 2013. She also sits as part of our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team, working closely alongside Partner Darren Bowen, specialising in Wills and probate disputes, as well as commercial property disputes. Leathes Prior is particularly proud to see another two of our trainees retained and progressed through the firm, bringing the total to 11 of our current Associates and Partners that started off their careers as trainees with the firm. Partner and Head of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team Mike Barlow said: “I am delighted to congratulate Tej and Sabina on their well-deserved promotions. Their contribution to the growth of the team since joining the firm has been invaluable and their expertise and professionalism is a credit to them and greatly appreciated by the firm’s clients. I am sure that they will both have long and successful careers with the firm.”

Spire Solicitors LLP are pleased to announce the promotion of Susan Ward and Ejike Ndaji, to Partner.

Susan joined the firm in 2016 and has been instrumental in forming the foundations of the New Build team. Susan holds 35 years of legal expertise and specialises in all areas of property related matters, including residential sales and purchases, re-mortgages, land acquisitions, new build conveyancing, Help to Buy Schemes and mortgage security work.

Susan commented: “Spire Solicitors LLP is a dynamic and thriving practice and I’m pleased to be welcomed as Partner to continue the growth of the business from its initial foundations”.

Ejike trained with Overburys (Spire Solicitors LLP forerunner) and qualified as a Solicitor in 2013.  Ejike is based in the Wymondham Office and specialises in all areas of Private Client law including Will drafting, Administration of Estates, Powers of Attorney, Court of Protection work and Estate Planning. Ejike is also head of the firm’s Charities and Social Enterprise team and is a member of the Charity Law Association which is at the forefront of the developments in charity law and practice. 

Ejike commented: “Having seen Spire Solicitors LLP grow from its formation in 2013 and having been involved in one of the founding firms, it is truly a fantastic honour to be recognised with the recent promotion to Partner. I look forward to many more years working with my colleagues to continue the growth of the firm, as well as continuing our exceptional level of service to clients”.

Commenting on the promotions, Lisa Edwards, Member & HR Director commented: “The Members and I would like to congratulate Susan and Ejike. The appointment to Partner is testament to their dedication, loyalty and hard work and we wish them every success in their new roles.”

Spire Solicitors LLP now employs over 160 members of staff and has been increasing its recruitment portfolio over the last few months. Since 2018, Spire has welcomed Howard Bailey, Sally Yaxley, Katharine Chatters, Nisha Jandu & Melissa Richards as new staff to firm, as well as promoted Rebecca Johnstone & Emma Trick to Associate and Craig Ward to Senior Associate.

The multi award winning franchisor TaxAssist Accountants has appointed TaxCalc as its new software partner.

TaxCalc will provide TaxAssist’s 200+ franchised accountancy firms with a wide portfolio of products, including final accounts production, tax, practice management and company secretarial packages, running on its CloudConnect platform. Following an extensive pilot, a phased six-month migration of network members is now underway.

TaxCalc is a family-run business and the largest independently-owned software provider in its sector, with a 20% share of the tax and accounting market. The company has over 8,000 accountancy practices, plus more than 40,000 individual taxpayers, limited companies and partnerships as customers. Recently TaxCalc won three major Software Excellence awards for Best Tax Production, Best Accounts Production and Best Practice Suite. 

TaxCalc CEO Tracy Ebdon-Poole said, “We’re absolutely delighted to partner with TaxAssist Accountants on one of the most exciting projects in our thirteen year history. Over the past months, we’ve worked closely with TaxAssist’s Head Office and a number of practices to trial our software. The experience has been incredibly productive and given us a chance to really understand one another. Commercially there’s a real product fit, but I’m also happy to say that on another level, we just seem to click, sharing similar values, an entrepreneurial spirit and an unswerving customer focus. I’d like to thank both sides for the commitment that’s resulted in this announcement. Now the hard work really starts!

With 208 full-service accountancy franchises, TaxAssist Accountants is the UK’s champion for small businesses. Group Operations Director, Sarah Robertson said “We are delighted with the new partnership with TaxCalc for compliance software for our network. With the increasing challenges facing the accounting industry, we needed to ensure that the key software our franchisees use provides the efficiencies of modern software by streamlining processes and reducing duplication. It was also key for us that all software should be easy to use and the provider should be quick to adapt to changes in the industry. I’m pleased to say that TaxCalc passed this challenge with ease. The team at TaxCalc have been an absolute pleasure to work with, and their whole approach has been refreshingly collaborative.  We look forward to a very productive partnership going forward.”  

April 2018

More than 520 franchisees, partners and staff helped make this year’s TaxAssist Accountants’ Conference on Saturday, 21st April its most successful to date.

Hosted at Celtic Manor, near Newport in Wales, the day started with a busy exhibition, at which franchisees were able to browse the 62 exhibitor stands and meet service providers and staff from TaxAssist’s Support Centre.

After lunch, TaxAssist’s Directors presented their vision for the organisation’s future direction, focusing on a new software suite, as well as the importance of advisory services and client experience.

Sarah Robertson, Group Operations Director, used the conference to deliver an overview of the new recommended software suite for the network.

“Having spent the past year heading up a research group, we now feel confident we have the very best in technology available for our network to use,” she said. “This will give our franchisees and their staff multiple benefits in terms of time and financial efficiencies and we are pleased our buying power has enabled us to pass on significant cost savings.”

Steve Checkley, Product Director of TaxCalc, one of the new recommended software suppliers, was invited on stage to explain how the changes and challenges that HM Revenue & Customs’ Making Tax Digital project will affect the network, and the importance of using the right software to keep abreast of these developments. His informative presentation highlighted the fact that accountants will be in demand more than ever, due to this industry evolution.

James Mattam, Group Business Development Director, discussed the competitive edge afforded to the network by the national marketing initiatives including the new TV advertising campaign, unrivalled social media presence, a switcher campaign and a fee bank purchase scheme.

Daren Moore, Group Commercial Director, was pleased to meet and address the network for the first time and focused on why accountants should be introducing advisory services as the earliest opportunity.

“The future of our industry is to embrace the developments in software and technology, but not lose sight of the fact that accountants offer the vital link between this and advising clients on how best to use and interpret the information. If a client can understand where they are now, they will be better informed about where they are heading in the future,” he said.

A black tie gala evening rounded off the conference, and included entertainment provided by Gareth Malone’s The Naked Choir winners ‘Sons of Pitches’ followed by ‘Diversity’ the 2009 winners of Britain’s Got Talent.

April 2018

Since 2010 Renee Mackay has built up a client base of over 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses with a fee bank of £800,000 and 15 employees.

Business is booming for Edinburgh-based accountancy firm TaxAssist Accountants headed up by serial entrepreneur Renee Mackay. Rapid growth meant she had to move to larger premises in Corstorphine in 2013 – three times the size of her original office.

Renee recently opened another Edinburgh office in a joint venture with business partner Alan Johnston in Goldenacre in 2016, which follows the opening of her other joint venture office with business partner Janet Mclean in Dunfermline in 2015.

Alan said: “Renee is a real powerhouse networker. I was previously in franchising, owning three Domino’s Pizza branches for 14 years with a combined turnover of £3m, but I was looking for a change of direction. As soon as I spoke to Renee about TaxAssist Accountants, I knew it was the opportunity I was looking for.”

“You meet a huge variety of different clients and it is very satisfying being able to support them not only with accounts and tax, but also help grow their businesses. We focus very much on providing excellent customer service and our friendly approach. We are a jargon-free zone and explain tax and accounts in a way which makes sense to our clients. Any accountant can do the mechanics of doing your accounts, but it is the customer service which adds the real value.”

He added: “Within 18 months we have built up our client base of 160 and I have just taken on another accountant to handle the workload. Being part of the franchise is fantastic as we can tap into resources such as IT and accounting systems which are often beyond the reach of small accountancy firms.”

Renee is no stranger to the franchising world, having run a highly successful franchisee training company for 10 years. 

“I could see the huge potential in the TaxAssist Accountants franchise, so it really was a no brainer,” explained Renee. “They have introduced a completely new approach to accountancy services which is miles away from the traditional image of the accountant. We are friendly, approachable and professional.”

TaxAssist Accountants has been a full member of the British Franchise Association (bfa) since 2003.  Alan said: “Being members of the bfa has huge benefits. It tells clients that our business follows strict ethical franchising standards and that our business has achieved significant milestones at an operational level.”

If you would like to follow in Renee, Janet and Alan’s footsteps, call 0800 0188297 to find out more about franchising and the fantastic opportunity it offers to start your own business. 

April 2018

It was another few days of dog distractions all round, as JMS em’barked’ on its latest shoot with pet product specialists, Beaphar UK. Following a successful video on tick-awareness last September it was time to move on to an even larger project featuring Lactol Puppy Milk. As all dog owners will know, for a puppy to grow into a strong and healthy dog, it is vital they receive all the right nutrients, and Beaphar felt the benefits could best be demonstrated by showing just how much a healthy dog contributes to a happy family. So the storyline centred around the heartwarming tale of a man raising a beagle puppy for six months on Lactol Milk before gifting the grown-up healthy puppy to his mum, whose previous dog had recently passed away. This presented Director Alice Homewood with the challenge of finding three similar looking dogs to portray the same beagle maturing across the video’s six-month timeline. Beagle-casting sessions were a lot of fun (all those furry faces!) and the chosen trio all proved to be stars across the three days of intensive filming. And it seems JMS is getting a bit of a name for taking-on challenges.  Children … dogs… bring em on!   If you are looking to promote a product or service with video content, give us a call on 01603 811855, we’d love to work with you!

Charity Bowls Event

East Anglia’s business rescue and insolvency specialists McTear Williams & Wood has raised £2,160 for charity at its popular 10th annual bowls tournament.

Twelve teams of professionals from across the region battled for the “McTear Williams & Wood Bowls Trophy” which was held at the Diss & District Bowls Club on Wednesday 25 April 2018.  The winning team were the “Gulls”; Eleanor Russell of Isadore Goldman, Simon Willis of Leathes Prior, Jonathan Lloyd of Hazells Chartered Surveyors and Jo Watts of McTear Williams & Wood.

In keeping with tradition the contestants wore an array of novelty slippers ranging from puppy dogs to monster claws.  Funds raised from the event went to Macmillan Cancer Support. Chris McKay Director of McTear Williams & Wood Limited presented the cheque to Sema Hussein, Corporate & New Business Fundraising Manager at Macmillan Cancer Support

Once again McTear Williams & Wood Limited extend their thanks to everyone who took part and to the Diss & District Bowls Club.

Holkham Studios will be the venue for the next Coffee Means Business networking event on Tuesday 15th May, organised by GENIX, the business support specialists. Leanne Castle of GENIX said, “We’re pleased to have been invited to host Coffee Means Business at Holkham Studios during May. As well as the opportunity to network over coffee in a lovely environment there will be a tour of international jewellery business, Monica Vinader Ltd, along with the opportunity to view the award winning serviced offices available at Holkham.” “We always receive very positive comments on the friendliness and easy format of the mornings as they’re the ideal place to make new business connections.” James Bracey, General Manager – Land and Property at Holkham, commented, “Making new contacts and gaining recommendations are an important part of building a business and networking is a great way of achieving this. I’m looking forward to showing delegates our purpose built, serviced office spaces, with fantastic broadband too.” North Norfolk District Council commissioned GENIX in 2016 to organise and host Coffee Means Business in the North Norfolk area. They could see a need for a regular networking opportunity for businesses which didn’t involve expensive membership fees. For more details regarding Coffee Means Business go to www.genix.org.uk or call 0800 096 3013.

What we are doing with Earth to Earth Organics

Our clients Earth to Earth Organics are an eco-friendly and alternative cosmetics brand, who pride themselves on their natural ingredients and dedication to the environment. We aimed to help them rank well on Google, not just for keys words, but for their brand name in a competitive industry.

Here’s what we did to boost our clients search engine rankings, user experience on the site and to establish their branding as recognisable in the alternative cosmetics industry.

Clean-up of the website – When begging our journey with any of our clients, we first look at the health of their websites. This is to say we look at their current meta-descriptions, meta-titles and whether they have any crawl errors or broken links on their site.

Having meta-data which is not optimised properly can damage a websites performance on Google and the like. Likewise, a website which does not have alt-text on its images and has broken links and crawl errors present is considered ‘unclean’ by Google’s algorithm.

Therefore, the initial steps we took with Earth to Earth Organics was to do a full clean-up of their website. We updated their meta-data and corrected any coding errors on any given page on their site. All meta-data should include target keywords at the beginning of the line so that Google can read it and pick it up quickly.

Adding Links – Another vital part of SEO is link building. In order to build up Earth to Earths authority, we sought out potential websites to feature a link to their website. For this, directories should be avoided and relevant websites in the same industry should be targeted.  As well as seeking out links from other sites, we optimised pages on their own website by directing strong links.

The University of East Anglia is looking for employers to help inspire young males across Norfolk to aim high through their Inside Industry programme.

The programme aims to give young males a taste of life in the world of work and inspire them to aim high to achieve their career ambitions. Working class males are particularly under-represented at universities across the country and are out-performed by their female peers academically.

Giving students real-life experience and practical advice can have a real impact on aspirations, particularly for working class males, and help them to plan for their future, whatever they choose to do next.

To find out more and how to get involved click here

All of the team here at Tudor Lodge Consultants are thrilled to announce that we are working with world-renowned hairdressers and stylists, Charles Worthington Salons. Based in Fitzrovia, Broadgate and Covent Garden, Charles Worthington have been at the forefront of hairdressing and hair fashion trends for many decades. Regularly styling celebrities and red carpet stars means that their online traffic, reputation and business is extremely important.

Working with a brand of the ilk of Charles Worthington is as exciting as it is challenging and by their very nature and due to the sheer size of the brand, there have been a few unique opportunities and occurrences which we have worked with to achieve already great success.

Starting the Journey Together

Upon beginning our work with the team at Charles Worthington, we knew we were working with an industry powerhouse. This meant from the outset that not only did they have a brand that is extremely well-known, but their online PR is continuously strong and positive, something very beneficial for search engine optimisation (SEO) as well as general online presence and reputation as a whole.

Their website however, was suffering from a lack of various SEO factors which meant that even for local search terms, they were simply not appearing anywhere near the top positions they have previously been targeting. Furthermore, they had little data on previous periods of time for the website meaning they had little idea about users and from where their traffic had come and how.

Working with their marketing and development teams, we analysed a range of data for the website including Google Analytics and a number of other sources to form a picture of where the brand is at and what it needs to properly engage users. We also worked (and continue to work) to improve various SEO factors and best practices across their website.

Our Work with Charles Worthington

Undertaking this exciting project with one of the best-known hairdressers and stylists in the UK, we have undertaken numerous improvements which have already been applied to the website including:

• Meta Data – Improving and optimising the meta titles and descriptions for the Charles Worthington has meant that Google and other search engines are able to crawl [read and understand] the subject matter of the website and specific pages’ offerings much better
• Website Speed – Improvements to the speed of the website means that users are able to engage and interact with the website in a much more user-friendly way, leading to increased engagements and contacts for the company. This has also greatly helped with increasing mobile users who traditionally have even less time than others
• Errors and Fixes – We are continuously working to fix broken links and crawl errors across the site meaning that the user journey upon reaching the website is sharper, streamlined and cleaner. This means that there are no ‘dead-ends’ with regards to dysfunctional links and errors that may otherwise be detrimental to the running and therefore rankings of the site as a whole

Charles Worthington have already enjoyed a range of successes including reaching page 1 for numerous target terms including ‘hairdressers in Fitzrovia’ and ‘hairdressers in Covent Garden’ amongst many others. Further building on their currently achieved progress, we look forward to continuing these successes and many more with the great team at Charles Worthington.