Member News

A Norwich-based business advisory and insolvency firm are showing great signs of promise since opening its doors for business in April this year. Leading Business Services has experienced a high demand from clients in both the corporate recovery and personal debt divisions and has made the decision to expand into larger premises at the newly-refurbished premises at The Gateway, Pottergate, in Norwich.

Jo Pyman, Director, said “After a very successful start, we are delighted to be building the foundations for our continued growth plans. Our new city centre premises will allow us to support more individuals and businesses who are looking to start or grow their business, as well as those who are experiencing financial difficulties or cash flow issues.”

One division of the business, Leading Strategies, which works with start-up businesses and also established companies which require support during growth, has already won a number of clients.

Director Jamie Playford, a licensed insolvency practitioner with over 15 years of experience in the business rescue sector, said: “We are really excited about our unique offering in East Anglia. Using our experience gained from working with clients in financial difficulties, we are looking to share that valuable knowledge with businesses to help avoid the common mistakes that can often be a cause of failure later on.”

The company says it is working with clients producing comprehensive business plans and helping to put in place good business practices to monitor and support those plans, and that this helps clients identify and achieve their goals and gives banks the confidence to support expansion plans. In addition, the company confirmed that number of clients engaging the corporate recovery division has been higher than envisaged at this stage and recruitment plans have been accelerated as a result.

“We are conscious that many clients think that they either do not need or cannot afford professional business support such as this” added Mr Playford. “We would invite those people to get in touch to discuss their business, as getting to know and understand our clients and exploring new opportunities is where we really add value and excel.”

Jo Pyman added: “The feedback we have from our market research, including professional contacts and former clients, is that there is a need for more professional, hands-on support for businesses. Having the experience in business rescue to prevent failure combined with the skills required to drive a business forward and support growth, means our clients benefit from an overall approach that doesn’t exist elsewhere”.

So many Xero users and Xero Accountants on the front cover of the XU Magazine in May 2015 – including us.

This cover shouts about the rapid uptake of Xero – small business accounting software – and the strong community feel amongst it’s users and advocates.

There, amongst all those Twitter images sits Shaper Accountants, the Go To Xero Accountants in Norwich. If you’re new to Xero or an experienced convert, this fresh magazine is a absolute winner. It’s packed full of articles and ideas, that help small businesses. With some excellent articles about the 400 plus Xero Add-On business apps, it’s a knowledge bank of how toscale up a business, whilst keeping hold of the costs.

This is only issue 3 and it’s still a subscription only mag but it’s making a big impact. This issue has some great articles, for example,5 reasons to ditch Excel as your work scheduling tool, in favour of affordable, cloud based tools.

If you are interested in getting a copy of XU magazine get in touch with us. If you just want to admire our little logo pic on the front cover,that’s been seen all over the world, have a really good look!

Britain’s last fire extinguisher manufacturer has signed a major export deal with India – as other fire companies import from there and China.

Britannia Fire is now exporting its pioneering service-free P50 – the first non-metal extinguisher made from the same material as bulletproof vests – to India’s leading fire safety company for distribution across India.

It has already shipped 4000 units as part of a five-year deal worth more than £1million, giving New Delhi-based Aska International exclusive rights to the award-winning P50.

Britannia Fire general manager Andy Spence said: “”When every other fire extinguisher manufacturer is importing from India and China, it feels good to be doing it the other way and flying the flag for quality British-made products and innovation in these countries.”

India joins a list of more than 10 other countries the Norfolk-based company has export deals with for its 100 per cent recyclable extinguisher, which has a 20-year lifespan and a 10-year guarantee.

Its export agreement with Dubai was signed at Britannia Fire’s House of Commons reception for blue chip companies and fire and rescue authorities in March.

Its portfolio of metal fire extinguishers, also made at its Ashwellthorpe factory, where more than 30 people are employed, all over the world, including Japan, Nigeria, Oman and Kuwait.

Aska Equipment, India’s largest manufacturer of fire extinguishing products and a pioneer in the field of specialised fire safety systems and disaster management products, was attracted to the P50 because of its innovation, Mr Spence said.

“It is multi-use as well as super-efficient so there is just the need for one extinguisher, eliminating decision paralysis in the face of a fire about which of the different fire extinguishers to use. Just grab the P50.”

Mr Spence met Aska, a market leader in Disaster Management, in Dubai in January 2014 at the Intersec exhibition.

“Aska is a family business that has been going for many years and very attracted by innovation. They visited our factory and we are visiting them and will be exhibiting with them in October.”

The first 40ft container of 4000 units has already left the Ashwellthorpe factory and will double the number of units every year.

The ‘green’ P50 doesn’t require the costly annual servicing of traditional extinguishers – just a simple in-house three-step check, offering significant cost savings to companies, he said.

It has attracted the endorsement of the government’s former chief fire and rescue adviser Sir Ken Knight, who praised it for offering significant savings for British industry” by taking costs out of maintenance while maintaining all the “effectiveness of portable fire fighting.”

The P50 needs refilling every 10 years rather than five and takes out costs of servicing, spares, and replacements.

Developed by Norfolk businessman and inventor Roger Carr, managing director of Britannia Fire, the P50 has already been installed for multi-site organisations, including Thames Valley Police, Anglian Water and university campuses across the country, offering huge annual savings.

Britannia Fire is in talks with major blue chip companies and household names across the country after hosting a reception at the House of Commons. Supermarket chains the size of Sainsbury’s would save about £6m over 10 years by swapping traditional metal extinguishers for the P50 in all branches, Mr Spence said.

The company has just launched a new F-class fat fire version of the P50 for restaurant kitchens, fish and chip shops and fast-food outlets.

It plans to launch its 4kg and 2kg versions in early autumn

Business in the Community has launched the largest ever workplace survey of race at work in the UK. The charity wants to hear from 10,000 ethnic minority and white employees to understand their experiences of race at work in the UK.

In the UK today, ethnic minorities are under-represented at every level of work. 13% of the population is from an ethnic minority background, but only 1 in 16 top management positions are held by an ethnic minority person. Ethnic minorities are also less likely to succeed in recruitment and less likely to be rated as top performers compared to white peers*. The race at work survey aims to gain better understanding of the issues around this under-representation of ethnic minorities in work, and is asking ethnic minority and white employees aged 16-64+ and currently in employment in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) to share their experiences through the survey.

Sandra Kerr OBE, race equality director, Business in the Community said: “The reality is that the UK has a diverse population. By 2051, 1 in 5 of the population will be from an ethnic minority background. Evidence gathered to date shows that underlying cultures and processes may contribute to ethnic minorities not being treated equally in work. We want to hear the reality of race at work for today’s employees. The collective voice of 10,000 people sharing their experiences will mean we can move away from debate, straight into action.”

The survey is open from Monday 27 July 2015 until Sunday 13 September 2015 at www.raceatwork.org.uk, and is sponsored by BT, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Nationwide and Sainsbury’s.The findings of Business in the Community’s race at work survey will be released in November 2015.

Aston Shaw’s Payroll Manager, Scott Drewery has been shortlisted for a prestigious Practice Excellence Award, in the category of Unqualified/Trainee of the year 2015.

Scott has been working towards his level 4 AAT qualification which he hopes to complete by the end of this year, after passing both level 2 and 3 first time. He has been with Aston Shaw for over 5 years and in that time has excelled – progressing from a new trainee to managing the payroll department, heading up the conversion to RTI and the current shift in the payroll process with regards to the new legislation around auto-enrolment.

Mark Russell, Client Manager of the Great Yarmouth Aston Shaw office nominated Scott for the award, commenting: “Scott is an essential member of our Payroll Department. He manages 2 younger trainees and has gained significant experience on the job alongside his formal AAT training. I have put forward Scott for this award, because he is a natural communicator, enthusiastic, has gone above and beyond to show aptitude for his role and we have been able to rely on him throughout our busiest periods”.

Scott Drewery, Payroll Managersaid: “As I grow and develop in terms of my experience and qualifications, I would like to further my payroll knowledge by specialising in the industry, so I can add more value and be able to run the Payroll department efficiently, proactively and profitably. I would like to advocate the study of specialist qualifications, such as payroll to my fellow trainees – as many prefer to take the generalist route and study to become a chartered certified accountant. My short-term aim is to grow and develop the Aston Shaw Payroll team – recruiting another team member to allow us to handle a greater volume of work – enabling me to bring in new clients and upsell extra services to existing ones.”

Want to take a good income while building an asset for your future? Mark Fordham did. Here’s how he made his million in just 9 years with a TaxAssist Accountants franchise and now sits on its board of Directors.

Mark Fordham’s career had been spent entirely in the Financial Services industry, with a background in banking, internal audit and lecturing at degree level. Realising that his whole career had been with big corporations, he decided that he wanted to work for himself and be in charge of his own destiny and build up his own business close to home.

“The reasons why I chose to consider franchising are the lower risks, and support in areas I had little or no experience of, such as sales and marketing. As part of my due diligence I visited the franchise exhibition at Wembley, looked at websites and magazines, spoke to franchisees and attended discovery days. I also attended a BFA workshop. The reasons I chose TaxAssist Accountants were the positive feedback I received from the franchisees and the success to date of the franchise, the set-up of the Support Centre and the trust I had in them running the franchise. Added to this, I felt that accountancy and tax was an area I could succeed in.”

TaxAssist Accountants is an innovative and award winning franchise servicing small businesses and the self-employed. The franchise which is this year celebrating its 20th Anniversary, was established when the founder figured out that small businesses would need help with their tax and accounts in the wake of self-assessment. Services offered include year-end accounts, tax returns, bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll and cash flow projections. After consistently winning awards in both the franchising and accountancy sectors, TaxAssist has grown to become the 25th largest network of accountants in the UK servicing over 53,000 clients from over 245 shops and offices.

Mark was awarded his TaxAssist franchise in 2003 and built up a client base in St Albans and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. He proved to be a very successful franchisee winning the TaxAssist Fastest Growth Award 3 years in a row, as well as TaxAssist Accountant of the Year, and the British Franchise Association Bronze award in 2009.

“The training and support I received from TaxAssist was first class. Everything they said they would do was done and more. I estimate that my business was years ahead of where it would have been had I started on my own, as a result of joining the franchise.”

“I attended an initial training course in Norwich which covered accounts, taxation, software, sales and marketing. Training and support continued whilst I was out in the field, in the form of technical and marketing help lines, on site visits from technical personnel and Directors, update training days, and of course the support and advice of other franchisees. I also continued to receive a steady stream of leads from the support centre, and found their marketing activities both on a national and local level, and their campaign toolkit particularly useful.”

“I opened my TaxAssist shop in 2009 which led to an immediate boost in new business due to increased client walk-ins. I made sure I continued to be active with networking and marketing, encouraging referrals and ensured that everyone knew where the shop was. The shop also gave the business a professional appearance with even more credibility. I think the shop was the key to my success. It was the visibility, combined with my efforts to drive business forward, and the back-up of the support centre, which lead to me building up to a client base of over 900.”

In 2012, just 9 years after starting his franchise, Mark sold his business for £1million to an incoming franchisee. “I’m happy to say he is still a franchisee, and working alongside his family, he is himself driving the business forward with renewed energy and enthusiasm which is great to see.”

TaxAssist openly encourages all franchisees to consider their exit strategies, and they even provide training days so that plans can be put in place early on in the franchise term. Mark approached the Franchise Recruitment Manager advising that he would like to start the search for a purchaser, and within six months the ideal candidate had been found.

“Did I face challenges along the way? Of course. I worked harder than I ever had and I was slow to take on staff and was perhaps guilty at times of working in the business, not on the business as I should have done. This is not a franchise you can effectively run on your own. When I sold the business I had 13 employees, all of whom were crucial in helping me to achieve what I did. The TaxAssist support extends to staff, who can also attend training courses and use the helplines, which then freed up my time.”

“If someone asked me what advice I would give to someone buying a franchise, I would say to do your research thoroughly. Think about what you will need from the franchisor and consider if they will provide this. Talk to existing franchisees and get a feel for how they are doing.”

The TaxAssist franchise takes on both accountants and business/finance professionals and has found that they make equally good franchisees as is evidenced by Mark’s success. Franchisees can employ accountants while they concentrate on building the business, holding client meetings and networking. What is important is that candidates have plenty of energy, a friendly persona, are technically competent and have a desire to succeed and exceed their goals.

In January 2015 Mark joined the franchise as a Non-Executive Director, representing the interests of the TaxAssist franchisees.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my role as a TaxAssist franchisee and I am looking forward to bringing my wealth of practical know how, into the decision making process of the TaxAssist board. The business model of TaxAssist is sound and there is certainly a ready client base crying out for the good quality, reasonably priced services on offer. I am evidence of what can be achieved by hard work, following the business model, and a personable manner. “

The Franchise Fee to join TaxAssist Accountants is£34,950 + VATand allows franchisees to work from a commercial office and then move to a shop front by the end of their third year. Alternatively franchisees can open up a shop front from day one, allowing their business to grow faster. Full support and advice is available to help with business planning and finance raising and TaxAssist work closely with you to help you to achieve your goals and aspirations.

Over the last 20 years the support on offer has grown and evolved, providing first rate, unparalleled initial and ongoing training and support packages for franchisees and their staff. This includes help lines providing comprehensive support on accounting and tax issues, lead generation, marketing campaigns, localised and national PR and a raft of additional services providers for franchisees to offer an enhanced service to their clients.

Each franchisee operates in an exclusive territory, and there are still many territories and resale opportunities available across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. If you would like to find out more, please ring 0800 0188297. The next step would then be to attend a Discovery Day at the Support Centre in Norwich, where you will be provided with more details and will get to meet with one or more of the Directors of the franchise. You will also be provided with a full list of franchisees for you to speak with as part of the research process, as well as research guides and business plan templates.

TaxAssist Accountants the successful small business tax and accountancy franchise is thrilled to announce that it has won a bronze award at the 2015 ‘Franchisor of the Year’ awards, arguably the most prestigious awards ceremony in the franchising industry calendar. This is on the back of winning the Gold award in 2010 and being a finalist in 2014 and means TaxAssist has now won the award in every available colour!

Judges comments were:

Cathryn Hayes head of business support at the bfa comments: “This is a business that has taken on multiple challenges in the last 12 months and met all of them successfully. The strength of the relationship that TaxAssist Accountants has with its franchisees has instilled a deep trust and honesty between all parties, critical to the exceptional performance of the business and duly recognised with this award.” The UK head of franchising for HSBC, Andy Brattesani comments: “TaxAssist Accountants impressed the judges on many different fronts, not least the franchisee-assisted management buyout and international expansion. It’s particularly notable that these have been achieved alongside continued expansion within the UK and with increased support and training for their franchisees, who continue to thrive. This is a business to watch in 2016.”

The winners were announced at a black-tie dinner held at the ICC in Birmingham on June 25th. Group CEO Karl Sandall and Group Business Development Director Sarah Robertson of The TaxAssist Group picked up the award on behalf of the company. Karl comments “Winning the bronze award in this, our 20th Anniversary year and on the back of being a finalist in 2014 is a brilliant result and is testament to the hard working Support Centre staff and our fantastic network of franchisees. We know our business model works, but to hear such positive comments from the judges on our achievements and way of working is a great endorsement of TaxAssist.”

Established in 1989 and the highest honours available to brands in the sector, the awards recognise the UK’s most exceptional franchisors in a range of categories for their business growth and development, service excellence and commitment to ethical franchising practice.

On the back of this success, the Directors of TaxAssist are keen to push the growth of the franchise network forward by offering an incentive to any franchisee that joins TaxAssist as a new franchisee on the last course of the year which starts on 19th October.

Karl explains “To celebrate our milestone anniversary and our bronze award win, we are seeking to expand our network further by incentivising people with an offer of £5,000 cash back from the franchise fee when they move into a shop front. The only stipulations are that the franchisee must take on a new territory, i.e. not join TaxAssist as a partner or due to a resale, and that they join us in our 20th year 2015 on our next course in October.

I’m more than happy to meet any interested parties, as I usually do, at one of our regular discovery days in Norwich to discuss further. These days are a great opportunity for prospective franchisees to meet the senior support team, and learn more about how we work with you to help you to establish your own substantial business.

I’ve seen franchisees join us for a variety of reasons. Some are looking for a better work life balance, some for less commuting, and others are just fed up of working for others and want to break free and work for themselves. All of them could see that by joining TaxAssist, they could work for themselves but not by themselves and while they are doing so, they are building a valuable asset. With our help and support, we can help you to achieve your personal goals, whether you’re working towards a 5 year contract or 25. Tax and accountancy services are always in demand and with our retail style shop concept which is so convenient for the small business owner we know how successful you could be.

Please do contact the recruitment department on 0800 0188297 for an initial chat and to book onto a discovery day. I look forward to meeting you.”

For full news of the bfa HSBC Franchisor of the Year Awards 2015 click here to visit the bfa website

TaxAssist Accountants, the national network helping small business owners and self-employed individuals with their tax and accountancy needs, is proud and excited to announce that it will shortly be launching in Australia.

Accountants and business partners Terry Murphy CPA and Celeste Godwin BBUS, (pictured with Karl Sandall, Sarah Robertson and Phil Sullivan) will initially be taking on the Regional Master Franchise Licence for Queensland with a commitment to take New South Wales by September 2016.

Terry & Celeste currently have 6 practices across both Queensland and New South Wales which, starting with the Queensland practices, they will rebrand as TaxAssist Accountants, so they will have an instant footprint when they are ready to start recruiting franchisees.

Terry comments “We have been tracking TaxAssist in the UK for a few years now and have been impressed with their achievements and progress. It was therefore an opportunity we couldn’t say no to, when I saw an advert advertising the master franchise rights here in Australia.

As experienced and innovative accountants, both Celeste and myself are looking forward to using our skills, along with the proven TaxAssist business model to build a successful network of franchisees. They will not only benefit from our business and technical awareness, but also the comprehensive training, marketing and business development support from a long-established and multi award-winning franchisor. This should create a very strong platform for future growth.

Like the UK, the small business market is huge in Australia at over 96% of the total business market and I know that the potential for business, combined with the innovative shop front concept, which has proven to be so successful in the UK, will go down well in Australia. We both can’t wait to get started!”

Karl Sandall, the CEO of the TaxAssist Group comments “We’re delighted to be launching in Australia, which has a burgeoning franchise sector, with business format franchises worth some AUS$65 billion, but does not yet offer our unique packaged accounts and tax service for small businesses. We see a significant growth opportunity and couldn’t make a better start than with the experienced team of Terry and Celeste.”

TaxAssist Accountants is happy to report that it now has 25 franchisees operating from 2 or more shop front premises.

One of the key features that marks out TaxAssist Accountants from other accountancy practices is our contemporary, open and welcoming shops. Specifically designed to be accessible and visible to our target market of small businesses and the self-employed, the shops have proven to be extremely successful since the launch of the first shop in 2002. There are currently 175 shops around the UK and 27 in the Republic of Ireland.

The franchisee that hit the 25th spot is Alex Smith (left) who operates his shops from Peverell and City Centre, Plymouth (pictured below), Devon. Alex, who runs his franchise with his wife Sarah and 5 members of staff, joined the franchise in 2006 when he was 30, deciding to move from Guildford in Surrey to Devon to start a new life and a new business. 9 years and two children later he hasn’t looked back!

Alex comments “It was a big decision to leave a good job, with a steady income to join a franchise and start from scratch in a totally new area, but I can honestly say TaxAssist have provided me with everything I needed. I am happy to report I have taken on over 300 clients operating from my first shop, and I am looking to repeat this success in my second shop.”

Prior to joining TaxAssist, Alex who is an ACA qualified accountant, operated as an accountant in industry and also an auditor in a Big 4 practice, but decided to make use of his accountancy skills and the TaxAssist brand name and support to establish his own business.

If you would like to find out more about running a franchise why not give us a call to see if your ideal territory is available and learn how TaxAssist could help you establish your own accountancy practice. Call 0800 0188297 for a confidential chat.

The 5 star Celtic Manor resort in Wales was the stunning venue for the TaxAssist Accountants Annual Conference and Gala Dinner held on the 18th April 2015. This is a special year for the Norwich based franchise, which this year celebrates its 20th Anniversary.

Franchisees, their partners, staff and specialist services providers gathered for an exhibition in the morning, followed by a productive and informative afternoon conference where the CEO provided a network update and announced that the franchise which has already expanded to the Republic of Ireland and Canada, will also be expanding to Australia.

Representatives from the British Franchise Association were speakers during the conference, and provided an overview of the history of the relationship between TaxAssist and the BFA. They announced at the conference that TaxAssist are finalists for the prestigious BFA franchisor of the year award again this year, having previously won the award back in 2010. Two franchisees have previously been finalists for the franchisee of the year award. The BFA were happy to endorse the TaxAssist model and later in the year the Franchisee Assisted Management Buyout, which is believed to be the first in the UK, will be held up as an example to other franchisors at their own Annual Conference.

The conference was rounded off by a black tie dinner, with top notch entertainment provided by Paul Daniels and Debbie McGhee who performed a magic show, followed by the amazing ABBA tribute group Bjorn Again. Over 480 guests were in attendance – the largest attendance yet – and rather than reward individual franchisees, the event was this year, focussed on celebrating the success of the network of almost 200 franchisees as a whole.

Karl Sandall CEO of TaxAssist comments “Absolutely delighted to witness such a fantastic turnout for our Annual Conference and celebration dinner. Our franchise network and all our partners are on top form and looking forward to our continued expansion and building of our brand worldwide. Our 60,000 small business clients are in good hands and I look forward to many more enjoying the TaxAssist service.”

Platinum sponsor Richard Simms comments “”From all at F A Simms & Partners we would like to congratulate TaxAssist on their 20th anniversary and another successful annual conference. We have worked closely with TaxAssist for many years now and it is such a pleasure to see them reach this milestone anniversary. We look forward to continue working with and supporting them for many more years to come.”

Greg Murphy a Certified Accountant and Roddy Comyn a Chartered Accountant were awarded the Master Franchise Licence for TaxAssist Accountants in the Republic of Ireland and haven’t looked back as they have seen the franchise go from strength to strength. They celebrated the event at their Annual Conference which was held at the Morrison Hotel in Dublin, which as well as being a motivational and informative event also rewarded the top performing franchisees across their network of 26 franchisees.

Overall 2014 has seen fantastic growth in numbers in the Republic. In 5 years of operation TAD Ireland have now passed the 5,000 clients mark, and more importantly they have also gone past the €5,000,000 fee bank mark.

Greg Murphy comments, “Prior to joining TaxAssist Accountants myself and Roddy were partners in a local practice in the Fairview region of Dublin. Whilst the practice was successful in its own right, we were both ambitious and wanted to develop a national brand across Ireland.

TaxAssist offered a distinctive brand and clear approach to marketing and it was one we were sure would work well in Ireland, even in a recession – as has been proven right. Where the franchise model adds value, is the strength of the brand and the high visibility of the shop-front premises.

As a Master Franchisor I have been given the tools, support and experience I need from TaxAssist UK to make the business successful in Ireland and I think that TaxAssist Ireland is a great blueprint of how the franchise model can work in other countries. We’ve all very much enjoyed building the brand over the last 5 years. Here’s to the next 5 years of success and more!”.

Accountancy Age has recently published its Financial Power List 2015 with CEO of The TaxAssist Direct Group Ltd. Karl Sandall making it to number 50 in the movers and shakers of the finance world.

Karl finds himself in illustrious company with George Osborne taking the number 1 slot with other notable entrants following on, including heavyweights in the business, finance and entertainment world such as Margaret Hodge Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Hollywood actor Ben Affleck and Lin Homer, Chief Executive, HM Revenue & Customs.

Accountancy Age is one of the leading resources for finance, business and accountancy news, features, advice and resources for accountants and other UK finance professionals.

Karl is listed alongside his Executive Management colleagues Sarah Robertson and Phil Sullivan and TaxAssist franchisees, who make up the UK’s largest network of small business specialist accountants. In 2014 a ground breaking Franchisee Assisted Management Buyout (FAMBO) took place with a tranche of franchisees breaking new ground in their ownership of the company. Franchisees currently own a 32% stake in the business, with the Directors of the company including Karl owning 53% and 15% by long-standing external business partners.

Karl comments “2014 was an exciting and trailblazing year for TaxAssist and proved how happy and satisfied our franchisees are in being part the success of our business. 2015 will be the year to cement our growing prominence in the accounting world. We will strive to continue to deliver excellent levels of support, training and leads to our network of franchisees and continue to build our brand name through our high street shop presence and highly successful and innovative social media campaigns. Whilst not taking our focus off the UK, we also have plans to expand the franchise in a controlled manner into selected markets in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and shortly the USA.”