Please welcome Katie Wilkinson of KW Accounting Solutions Ltd.  Katie is a chartered accountant based in Dewsbury, working remotely and covering all areas of West Yorkshire and more importantly, Wakefield!

Katie has over 12 years of experience having worked in a small firm and a large corporate firm, with experience of working with sole traders and start-ups through to multi-million-pound businesses.

Working alongside her sister who has recently joined and is a qualified accountant, they work with a number of different sectors and provide services including self-assessment tax returns, year-end accounts, bookkeeping, regular management accounts right through to an outsourced finance director role.

Katie is really keen to build a local support network to be able to help her clients thrive in their businesses and also help you and your clients too.

” I know first hand how stressful it can be running your own business and everything there is to do and want to work with people to help eliminate some of that stress and support you as you grow through your business. I am a Yorkshire tea girl through and through so if you would like to have a chat over a cuppa, please feel free to get in touch!”

 

[email protected]

Parsons Chartered Accountants has been a member of We Are Wakefield for several years. You may have met their representatives enjoying our networking events.

From basic accountancy advice to full support across even the most complex challenges, the  experienced team at Parsons provides clear and strategic financial advice that’s delivered in a language you’ll understand.

Giving you peace of mind that your finances are legally compliant, whilst getting you the best results to achieve your business and personal financial objectives. Parsons serves clients from small owner-managed businesses to large corporations working across a broad range of sectors; and also private individuals.

If you’re looking for a reputable and experienced accountant, give the team at Parsons a call.

Pictured: Lisa Butterworth, Marketing Manager.

Accounting/Audit/Tax/Corporate Finance/Outsourced Finance Team

www.parsons.co.uk

01924 669 500

[email protected]

 

Please welcome Katie Forrester of Riqueza Business Solutions to the We Are Wakefield family!

 

Riqueza Business Solutions has been working with Sole traders / SME business owners for 6 years to provide them with bespoke funding solutions. They are a story led brokerage who take the time to get to know both the clients they serve as well as the lenders they recommend to ensure that a perfect pairing is created. They aim to place clients with the funding partner that best suits them as they understand that every business and it’s needs are different. 

 

If your business is in need of any of the below, they can help out through both periods of growth and periods of distress. They also have a range of service providers to work more closely with business leaders to secure and protect their families, finances and futures. 

 

Commercial mortgages / Bridging loans / Invoice Finance/ Asset Finance / Secured loans / Unsecured Loans / Specialist Finance / Corporate Finance. 

 

Run by business owners for business owners. 

 

Make sure you connect with Katie and say Hello at the next WAW event!

 

[email protected]

07853 826 765

LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/company/riqueza-business-solutions

Chocolate and great conversation was the order of the day as We Are Wakefield members enjoyed an intimate networking event at The Nostell Estate.

Welcome drinks were provided by The Nostell Estate and a varied and somewhat unusual selection of chocolate was handed round for tasting by the wonderful Mark Simpson of Oh My Ganache.

Following a round of introductions, attendees took the taste challenge and had to guess the mystery ingredient in 10 different samples of OMG chocolate.  There were some unusual combinations from bacon to bee pollen and the most in tune tastebuds belonged to Bethannie O’Connor of Parson’s Chartered Accountants who took home the bottle of Prosecco.

The raffle in the interval raised £66 for Wakefield Hospice and the happy winners were Adrian and Jane Hogarth of SPC Cars.  The prize was a rather hefty box of chocolate treats including dipped strawberries and a selection of OMG creations.

The winning didn’t stop there, with Mint HR‘s Tracy Carpenter taking the goody bag in the business card draw!

There were lots of laughs and wonderful conversations running throughout the event that could have continued long after time!

Thanks to all who joined us:

Mark Simpson – Oh My Ganache!

Gayle Summers – The Nostell Estate

Ali – Carruthers-Illingworth – Purple Pebble People

Nicola Roberts & Christine Edge – Working Carers Champions

Jennifer, Adam & Bethannie – Parson’s Chartered Accountants

Lorna Blackett – Crest Commercial Finance

Katie Wilkinson – KW Accounting Solutions Ltd

Katie Forrester – Riqueza Group

Adrian & Jane Hogarth – Sports Prestige and Classics Ltd

Diana Holden – Bid Writing Service

Mark Harris – Eitex 

 

Check out all the photos from the event here:

Event Gallery 2023-04-19

 

 

Martyn Sales is a fully qualified Financial Planner based in Huddersfield looking after clients all over West Yorkshire helping individuals, business owners and trustees maximise their income and manage their wealth.

“People often think financial planning is all about money. But I think it’s all about you. Good financial planning is about your life goals and your future plans, and the things you love to do from day to day. It’s about your career and your home life, about your family and friends, and about what you’d like to achieve over the years and decades to come.

Money, of course, can help make good things happen – but with an effective plan, you can achieve so much more. So when we meet you, we won’t start by adding up the money you have in the bank. Instead, we’ll chat about the life you have and the life you want – and about how we can help bring your aspirations to life.

This client-centric approach is commonly referred to as Lifestyle Financial Planning.

I work with my clients to help them create and ‘get’ the life they want and then help them to protect and enjoy it.

At the core of our service is financial forecasting, which empowers clients to see how they can get “the best return on life.” My advice covers all areas of Wealth Management, including; Retirement Planning, Wealth Protection, Estate Planning and Investment Planning.

I’ve recently worked with a few WAW Wakefield members who have seen lots of benefit from having a conversation with me. I’m finding the networking events great for making new connections and have found there is a really strong community wanting help each other. I’m grateful to be part of that.”

 

National Compliance Solutions was set up by Kerrell Cronly to challenge the consulting industry that existed in the area. Having lots of experience with ISO and H&S consultants as a customer and as an auditor, Kerrell recognised what worked well for people and what didn’t and wanted to raise the bar.

The National Compliance team have a wealth of experience in QHSE advice and support, from front line to management level and also specialise in information security. They aim to give a full spectrum support service to their customers to meet minimum legal and regulatory requirements and those optional extra certs like CHAS, ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and 27001

They have customers in all sectors, from print management to software development to physical security.

“Our aim is to be honest, reliable and realistic. We don’t provide off the shelf plug and play docs as that doesn’t work for everyone, and we don’t put square pegs in round holes – forcing policies and procedures will never work so we just don’t try. We want to work with WAW to share our knowledge with other members and raise awareness about health and safety in the main. We want to dispel the “health and safety gone mad” myths that fly around and help businesses put in practices that work for them and their staff and ultimately keep employees and business safe. We also want to support people looking to take the next step and get their business accredited, or even help with keeping existing accreditations.”

Make sure you say hello to Kerrell at a WAW event or get in touch at:

[email protected]

Please welcome new We Are Wakefield members, Studio j Architects.

“We understand how important your property is to you, and we share your excitement when it comes to improving your lifestyle through great architecture.”

Studio j Architects are a small RIBA chartered architects practice based at The Junction in Horbury, with projects throughout Yorkshire and the north. Since being founded in 2009 they have worked on over 600 projects. Specialising in private residential projects, from small extensions to luxury new build houses and listed properties. Along with smaller scale commercial developments and properties for independent businesses.

Managing Director, James Butterworth (pictured) will be attending the next WAW event in May, so please make sure you say hello!

 

In Episode 2 of the We Are Wakefield Podcast, we meet Rachel Smith of Clutter is the Enemy and Claire Roberts of Rutley Clark Unique Homes. We explore the challenges faced by two businesses that were born during the COVID19 pandemic.  Rachel and Claire discuss property, mindsets and how they’ve collaborated to great effect.

Meet Shadowfax Funding Solutions Limited, a commercial finance brokerage which supports businesses who require funding for scaling up, cash flow, business purchases, property purchases and the unexpected business bills.

Shadowfax understands that every owner has a different business model and unique motivators. With that in mind, they look at every funding proposition from the perspective of the client.

They take a continuing relationship approach and partner with their clients for the long term. They are not transactional but consultative and put the long term value of clients at the centre of everything they do.

Shadowfax Funding Solutions Limited was set up by Andy Bissett in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.   Ali Bissett joined the business a year later in July 2021.  Steve Smith joined the business as Head of Property in July 2022.  Together, they have nearly 50 years of combined experience working with company owners to scale their businesses and overcome hurdles by using creative finance.

Steve Smith: “We have been members of We Are Wakefield for nearly a year now and we have seen it grow incredibly fast, every event gets bigger and busier.  Everyone is open to speaking which gives all the events a really friendly feel.

We will have a stand at the next WAW networking event at The Weston on the 3^rd of April, why not drop by and speak to us.”

Pictured L to R: Steve Smith, Ali Bissett, Andy Bissett.

Check out the website for more information:

www.shadowfaxfunding.com