Local Chartered Accountants celebrate ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year’ award

The partners of Haines Watts North Devon LLP celebrate national success as ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year – Small, Medium Size Entities (SMEs’), at the annual Financial Directors (FDs) Excellence Awards.  This award follows on the back of the Haines Watts group winning ‘Auditor of the Year’ in the SME category for two consecutive years.  

Haines Watts Partners John Edwards - North Devon and Ben de Cruz - Exeter 

John Edwards, Managing Partner Haines Watts North Devon says: “It is great to see Haines Watts win such a prestigious award, particularly as it is voted for by business people and not by an academic panel of experts.  It’s also fantastic that Haines Watts is the first firm ever to have won an award in three consecutive years and I am delighted that it has been crowned Accountancy Firm of the Year for SME’s. On a local level it recognises that we are able to offer our clients award-winning accountancy services as part of this well-respected brand.”

The FDs' Excellence Awards are the most prestigious programme recognising the UK's top finance directors and their service providers that support Britain's finance community using the results of an annual survey, in which FDs and financial decision-makers recorded their opinion.  

The glittering awards ceremony held in Grosvenor Square, London was hosted by Real Business in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) with Haines Watts beating off stiff competition locally, regionally and across the UK as a whole.

John Edwards adds: “Our core client base is owner-managed businesses, so to get this endorsement from SME businesses means a great deal to us.  We are proud of all our staff at the Bideford office who do an outstanding job for our clients on a daily basis.  Their continued contribution and commitment to giving outstanding service has helped us to win a national award for the third year running which is an amazing achievement.”

www.hwca.com/acccountants-north-devon

Devon Business EXPO and Glen King PR and Marketing

Click on image to enlarge 

Express and Echo

Barristers’ set tees-off for charity

St. John’s Chambers organised a charity golf day and dinner sponsored by Haines Watts Chartered Accountants at The Bristol Golf Club in aid of Headway Bristol. 

Katherine Hicks and Kate Croucher (CEO, Headway Bristol)

Derek Jenkins (CEO, St John’s Chambers), Rose Kemery  and Sarah Tune (St John’s Chambers) 

Over 52 golfers competed in the 18-hole 4-ball Stableford competition with Nestor as the winners and runner up Withy King LLP with trophies awarded to each team member. 

A total of £4,200 was raised for the local charity.

Kate Croucher, CEO Headway Bristol added: “The support we receive from organisations such as St John’s Chambers – and all those who took part in the Golf Event - is vital in helping us raise awareness about brain injury and the devastating effects it can have on the individuals and their families.  Equally, it helps to raise vital funds that will go directly to providing our range of services.  We are extremely grateful to everyone involved – it was a great event which we hope to hold again next year."

  

Derek Jenkins, CEO St. John’s Chambers said: “Chambers would like to say a big thank-you to Haines Watts for sponsoring the event, Scott Law for kindly donating the goody bags, and Bristol Golf Club for supporting the event.  It was a great day enjoyed by all with much needed funds being raised for a very worthy local cause. Going forward we are organising a charity ball for Headway Bristol on 26th September 2014 at the Marriott Royal Hotel Bristol as part as our fundraising activities this year.”

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

Chartered Accountants celebrate 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines

The partners and staff of Chartered Accountants Haines Watts held an event at Grange Exeter to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of World War 1 and to celebrate the 350^th anniversary of the inception of The Royal Marines since their formation in 1664.  

The Haines Watts team 

Over 100 members of the local business community attended the high-profile event in aid of The C Group charity, which seeks to inspire business to support Royal Marines in need.  Held at the Jaguar and Aston Martin Dealership, Grange Exeter with supporting sponsor Bang & Olufsen, guests enjoyed wine and canapés and enjoyed the experience of sitting in the wonderful cars and revving the engines. 

Nick Agg-Manning of OAC Limited acted as auctioneer and interviewed Lt. Col Sharky Ward OBE, Director of Operations for the charity, particularly in the South West community.  The charity aspires to support any Royal Marine whose military career is ended prematurely due to injury, however this injury is incurred.

       

Lt. Col. Sharky Ward OBE, Director of Operations, The C Group says: “We are hugely grateful to Haines Watts for arranging this fantastic event to support the C Group and raise much needed funds.  Also to the Grange who provided the wonderful venue.  There are mutual benefits in our aspiration of connecting the Royal Marines to the business community, ensuring that we look after those Royal Marines in need, whilst concurrently providing business access to high quality personnel on completion of active service.”

Haines Watts who recently won a national award as ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year’, raised £2,400 for the charity with a raffle and auction prizes.

Haines Watts Partners: John Edwards, Haines Watts North Devon and Ben de Cruz, Haines Watts Exeter 

Ben de Cruz, Managing Partner Haines Watts Exeter says: “As a business we like to give back to the community and the military milestones were a perfect opportunity to help a very worthy local cause.  I would like to say a big thank you to Nick Agg-Manning for his generosity and giving his time, also the staff at Grange who made it such an exciting evening and Bang & Olufsen for their support.  The feedback from guests has been brilliant and it is without doubt the most successful charity event we have held to date.”

Photographs by Matt Austin

http://www.hwca.com/accountants-exeter/

Brewin Dolphin garden wins silver gilt medal at the Chelsea Flower Show

The Brewin Dolphin Garden has been awarded a Silver Gilt Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Their show garden was designed by Matthew Childs and is the more remarkable as it is his first ever garden at Chelsea, having won Best in Show at Hampton Court in 2013. 

The Brewin Dolphin Garden 

Matthew has delivered a breath-taking design that is calm, reflective and private with a simple geometric layout. The design is inspired by the company’s ethos: bespoke and innovative, but firmly rooted in past traditions.

Rupert Tyler, National Director of Brewin Dolphin and a renowned gardener himself says, “We’re absolutely delighted with Matthew’s success today – the pressure on his freshman’s shoulders to deliver, must have been immense. We love the design and the planting – and are so pleased that all his great work has received the recognition it deserves. We would like to thank Matthew and his team for creating such a beautiful space, but also for making it all look as if it has been here forever.”

The garden signifies new growth – a springtime concept, with bold, engaging elements throughout. Patinated copper archways, generous paths and sculpture symbolise emerging opportunities and Brewin Dolphin’s forward thinking approach. The plant list is varied but neither excessive nor intimidating for those gardeners who might be inspired to replicate sections of Matthew’s sublime planting, The irises, geraniums and aquilegias are delightful against the limey backdrops of hostas and ferns and some very special trees. 

Matthew Childs 

Matthew Childs says, “Life is a roller coaster. You have ups and downs, but there is always a new possibility around the corner and potential to nurture for the future. This is what I wanted to put into this garden and I am so excited that it seems to have come off. ”

“I get to work with so many talented people all of whom share my passion for gardens. We are in it together; an intense, adrenaline fuelled experience with a beautiful garden at the end of it.”

Tim Walker, Head of Brewin Dolphin in Exeter said “It is a great thrill that our Chelsea garden has won a silver-gilt medal this year.  I know how much our clients enjoy the Chelsea Flower Show whether or not they actually attend – the week is a very special one for everyone interested in gardening.”

www.brewin.co.uk 

Property Damage Seminar - Bristol

Thursday, 19th June 2014

St John’s Chambers' Property Insurance Litigation team welcome you to their seminar, which aims to bring practitioners up to speed with all the latest developments in the world of property insurance litigation.
 

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Topics:

• Liability for flooding
  Richard Stead, Head of St John's Chambers
• Liability for fire damage
  Julian Horne, Barrister, St John's Chambers
• Easements for slip and support
  Charlie Newington-Bridges, Barrister, St John's Chambers
• Remedies: damages or injunction
  Richard Gold, Barrister, St John's Chambers

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Details:

Download programme: Property damage seminar 2014
Cost: £40 + VAT (payable to St John's Chambers) 

Venue: St John's Chambers, 101 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6PU

Registration: 1.30 pm 

Starts: 2.00 pm

Finishes: 5.30 pm (drinks and canapes to follow)

Accreditation: 3 CPD hours (BSB and SRA) 

Book now

Download booking form

www.stjohnschambers.co.uk 

Award-winning Chartered Accountants pocket a victory

Bideford-based Haines Watts North Devon LLP sponsors the Bideford and District Snooker League.  Haines Watts recently celebrated national success being named as ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year – Small, Medium Size Entities (SMEs’) at the annual Financial Directors (FDs) Excellence Awards.  It is a double celebration as the Haines Watts ‘Hustlers’ team from the 2013/14 season won the first division title. 

Jason Walker / Andy Hicks / Jonathan Gifford – Partner, Haines Watts North Devon / Jamie Thompson – Haines Watts North Devon 

Haines Watts Partner Jonathan Gifford together with work colleague Jamie Thompson and fellow ‘Hustlers’ team members have been playing together for 5 years.  In two out of the last three years they have won the 1^st division.

Trophy presenter and former professional Andy Hicks, made a tournament 147 maximum break in 2012 and is a former world championship semi-finalist.  On the night he played some exhibition frames against both winners and sponsors.

Jonathan Gifford of Haines Watts made a sponsors speech at the end of the presentation which included a mention of the late Kenny Walters a long-standing league and committee member who sadly passed away shortly before the presentation evening.

Jonathan Gifford, Partner Haines Watts North Devon LLP says: “The team spirit and enthusiasm of the ‘Hustlers’ helped us to victory and it’s great news for Haines Watts to win two very different types of awards in quick succession.  It was a very enjoyable evening for all and a fitting tribute to Kenny Walters who is sorely missed.”

www.hwca.com/accountants-north-devon/

Eirian Davies’ estoppel claim to £7 million farm upheld by Court of Appeal

Leslie Blohm QC represents Eirian Davies as her estoppel claim for an interest in her parents’ £7 million farm is upheld by the Court of Appeal

Leslie Blohm QC, a member of St John's Chambers Wills, Trusts and Probate team was instructed by Wiljo Salen of Hugh James, Cardiff to represent Eirian Davies both at trial and on appeal, in her £7 million farm battle.

The Court of Appeal has upheld the claim of Carmarthenshire farmers’ daughter, Eirian Davies, to an interest in her parents’ £7 million farm and pedigree Holstein/Friesian milking herd. The claim is the latest in a line of actions brought by relatives who have  worked on farms, often for many years, for long hours and at low or no pay, on the basis that they would succeed to the farm in due course.

Eirian Davies’ parents who have owned and run the farm since 1961 disputed all of her daughter’s allegations that promises had been made to her, and that she had relied on those promises to her detriment – all matters that had to be proved for her to succeed.  The Court of Appeal approved the judgment of HHJ Milwyn Jarman QC who heard evidence over three days in Cardiff last June, in favour of Ms. Davies. The case illustrates the complex factual findings that a Court must make in respect of matters that often arose informally, in private and many years ago. Unless settled by agreement, the case will now proceed to a further hearing where Eirian Davies’  entitlement will be decided.

Download detailed discussion about this case: Estoppel and detrimental reliance

View profile: Leslie Blohm QC

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EXETER SPORTING CLUB SUMMER 2014 DINNER

@ The Thistle Rougemont Hotel

Queen St, Exeter

Wednesday 11th June

7 - 11. 45pm

With special guest  former England cricketer MATTHEW HOGGARD MBE. A Leeds-born medium-fast bowler and right-handed batsman, "Hoggie" played initially for his local Club Bradford League before spending 13 seasons at Yorkshire CCC until 2009. He then captained Leicestershire from 2010 until his retirement last year. Along the way he won 67 England caps, the first in 2000, and also played in 26 One Day Internationals.

Working alongside Matthew in a quasi double act will be CHRIS COWDREY. The eldest cricketing son of England legend and life peer Colin (The Lord) Cowdrey (of Tonbridge) CBE, Chris was an all-rounder who played for Kent for 15 seasons until 1991. With only 6 England caps and 3 One Day Internationals to his name, some say he was unfairly treated in 1988 when, elected England Captain for the 4th Test of a 5 match Series against the West Indies who were already 2-0 up, England lost heavily by 10 wickets. After that one appearance he was injured and never chosen to captain or play for England again. For many years since, Chris has enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding raconteur.

Bringing up the rear is JOSH DANIELS. Originally intent on becoming a professional musician, Josh's inate sense of humour began to take over and he started to write and perform his own unique brand of stand-up comedy. He has since established a fine reputation up and down the country as a versatile and talented entertainer who is particularly at home in the corporate and after-dinner market.

An event not to be missed! 

Visit www.southernsportingclubs.co.uk for more information or to register 

Farmer's Tax Win

HM Revenue and Customs has a longstanding policy of not reopening settled cases, even when subsequent decisions change the case law. So it was a significant victory for Doug Robshaw, tax manager at Haines Watts in Hereford, and his client when they persuaded HMRC to review a claim for Agricultural Property Relief (APR) on a farmhouse and secure a rebate.

The decision to appeal was promoted by the 2013 Tax Tribunal case (HMRC v Hanson) which successfully challenged HMRC’s view that APR could not be granted on farm houses where the surrounding land was not in common ownership.

The farmhouse was occupied by the deceased’s son, who farmed the land, but the ownership of the land had been split between family members.  The tribunal found the occupation of the land was also relevant in assessing eligibility and APR was therefore granted on the farmhouse.  The situation where farmland is not in common ownership with the farmhouse is not usual, but HMRC’s willingness to review settled cases is.

Although the client’s circumstances were similar to Hanson – he owned and farmed the land but prior to her death his mother owned and occupied the farmhouse – there was no guarantee that HMRC would reopen the case which dated back to 2009.

However Doug, having previously worked for HMRC for 12 years, had a good understanding of how the system works and the best approach. “Having submitted the necessary paperwork, I engaged with the tax inspector who originally handled the case and there was a continued dialogue throughout the whole process. This was I was able to move the case along and provide supporting evidence.”

“I think I was also assisted by a general tide of good will towards a farming community facing adversities after the recent floods.”

Both Doug and his client were delighted when HMRC agreed to refund the Inheritance Tax paid on the farmhouse, which amounted to £120,000 along with £9,500 of accrued interest.

Doug feels the decision opens the doors for others to claim APR retrospectively.  But he added: “Each case needs to be assessed on its own merit. Potential claimants need to ensure they get expert advice on whether to proceed or risk incurring professional fees.” 

For  farm tax or agricultural advice contact Haines Watts North Devon and Haines Watts Rural Business LLP 

www.hwca.com/accountants-north-devon

01237 471736

northdevon@hwca.com

LUXURY APARTMENTS AT POUNDBURY GET CROWNING GLORY

Dorchester-based C G Fry & Son organised a large crane to position a cupola, complete with gold finial as the finishing touch to Corston House their exclusive and élite development of luxury apartments. 

Photograph by Jonathan Gooding 

Nearing completion in area 2.22 of the South West Quadrant of the prestigious Poundbury, the impressive and elegant Corston House offers five special, luxurious apartments built in brick with authentic stone detailing. 

C G Fry & Son’s major part in the building of more than 500 houses, as well as commercial properties, at the prestigious Poundbury development has created a global showcase for the company’s design and excellence of finish.   The South West Quadrant is a mixed use development of some 250 dwellings that draws closely on the handsome architecture of the late 18^th and early 19^th century in Dorchester and surrounding towns with particular care to detail door surrounds, eaves details, brickwork and metalwork.

The one three-bedroom, and four two-bedroom apartments provide a unique style of sophisticated living which will appeal to discerning homeowners as a main residence or second home.  With large windows and high ceilings, the elegant apartments each have individual features and double carports or carport plus parking space.   The stylish and contemporary kitchen design finished with granite worktops has built-in white goods.  Spanish Porcelanosa wall tiles adorn the ensuites and ceramic flooring is fitted in the larger apartments.  The ground floor two-bedroom residence with two ensuites and dressing areas has its own entrance and double doors open onto a good-size private walled garden.

Caroline Hill, Head of Sales & Marketing C G Fry & Son says: “This really is a very special building with stunning apartments offering the height of luxury.   The generous proportions and large windows creates a spacious, light and airy feel throughout and being located in prestigious Poundbury means they will attract very discerning purchasers.”

The next exciting new phase on Poundbury is the North East Quadrant with first stage release coming soon.  A mix of freehold houses and two coach houses with prices to be released shortly.

Sales office open 7 days a week.

Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm.  Weekends 10am – 4pm (Closed on Bank Holidays)

Tel: 01305 259600

Email: poundburysales@cgfry.co.uk

www.cgfry.co.uk

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS CELEBRATE ‘ACCOUNTANCY FIRM OF THE YEAR’

The partners of Haines Watts, Exeter celebrate national success as ‘Accountancy Firm of the Year – Small, Medium Size Entities (SMEs’), at the annual Financial Directors (FDs) Excellence Awards.  This award follows on the back of the Haines Watts group winning ‘Auditor of the Year’ in the SME category for two consecutive years beating off stiff competition from other leading local firms.   

Exeter Partners, Patrick Tigwell, Ben de Cruz and David Park toast the Haines Watts group award success

Ben de Cruz, Managing Partner Haines Watts Exeter says: “It’s great to see Haines Watts win such a prestigious award particularly as it is voted for by business people, and not by an academic panel of experts, who recognise that we offer our clients an award-winning accountancy service. It’s also fantastic that Haines Watts is the first firm ever to have won an award in three consecutive years and I’m delighted that the group has been crowned Accountancy Firm of the Year for SME’s.”

The FDs' Excellence Awards are the most prestigious programme recognising the UK's top finance directors and their service providers that support Britain's finance community using the results of an annual survey, in which FDs and financial decision-makers recorded their opinion.  

The glittering awards ceremony held in Grosvenor Square, London was hosted by Real Business in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and supported by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). 

Ben de Cruz adds: “Our core client base is owner-managed businesses, so to get this endorsement from SME businesses means a great deal to us.  We are proud of all of our staff in both the Exeter and Crediton offices who do an outstanding job for our clients on a daily basis.  It is because of their contribution and commitment to giving outstanding service that has helped us to win an award for the third year running which is an amazing achievement.”

http://www.hwca.com/accountants-exeter/

Win a stand at the Devon Business Expo 2014!

thebestofExeter promotes businesses in and around the City of Exeter and has become the definitive guide to great businesses in the area. They are currently busy organising the Devon Business Expo 2014 which is going to be a major event in the Devon business calendar. It is being staged at the Matford Centre on Thursday the 5^th June with over a hundred exhibitors and up to a thousand visitors on the day. The Expo is open to all types of business from across Devon including cafes and restaurants, garages, retailers, professional services, charities, digital marketing, social media and training, plus many more.

Now there is a chance for one lucky business to win a free stand to promote themselves at the Expo via a multi media competition in conjunction with thebestofExeter, Express and Echo, Devon Hour, Twitter, Facebook and Basepoint. The prize in detail is a 3m x 2m exhibition stand including shell scheme walls, table and electricity, worth over £400.

To enter simply visit  https://thedevonbusinessexpo.eventbrite.com and register.

You can also register for free admission to the event at the same time.

Even if you are not lucky enough to win there are still a few stands available for exhibitors.

For more information please visit www.devonbusinessexpo.co.uk or call 01392 349135.