About Us

Our spacious and peaceful offices are just south of Cambridge, set back from the A1307 with easy, uncongested access and free parking.

We use the latest technology in order to work with maximum efficiency but we never forget our clients are real people working in the real world - and we understand they are not accountants! Most face-to-face contact is in the open-plan main office but we also have a comfortable and well-appointed private meeting room.

The core of our work is small business accountancy and associated support services. While the official definition of 'small' is having a turnover up to £6.5 million, we specialise in smaller concerns; typically businesses (and charities) owned and/or managed by between one and five people.

We also specialise in Self Assessment and other personal tax work.

Click here for a summary of all services offered.

Most of our clients are from the Cambridge area but we have clients further afield and indeed all over the world.

Tim Phillips

Tim went into accountancy part-time in the late 1980's as a side-line to a career in jazz. However within six months his boss had put him in charge of the entire practice's output of tax returns in all their variety. Tim clearly had an aptitude for tasks that would normally require years of training and was soon assigned to ever more complex and technical accountancy work at senior level.

Recognising that he had more to offer clients by running his own practice to these high standards, he opened an office in central Cambridge in 1991, working from a basement at home.

By 2005 he had too many clients and too little time and space. The practice moved to Copley Hill, taking on two staff.

The value and importance of practical experience in the real world compared with time preparing for hypothetical exams remains at the heart of his philosophy. Given the success and continuing growth of the practice for over 30 years, clearly this chimes with our clients, a few of whom have been with us for over 25 years.

In his spare time, Tim is Chairman of Cambridge to St Ives railway promotion group CAST.IRON, has been group organiser of Sawston Open Gardens for the National Gardens Scheme and is still an active jazz musician working for the bandleader John Petters as well as occasionally leading his own band playing the music of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.

About ten years ago he found himself unexpectedly embarking on a preservation project - a 1982 Leyland Tiger Plaxton Supreme V Express coach. Asked why, unusually for Tim, his answer was "I don't know!" He subsequently acquired an even older coach and operated both vehicles commercially in his spare time. However the legal, administrative and maintenance obligations became disproportionate and both have now been sold to full-time operators who can do justice to them.

Back to the garden!

The Permanent Accounting Team

Tim Phillips - Director, Senior Supervising Accountant

Louise Lant - Practice Manager, Assistant Accountant

Additional support staff are engaged according to demand.