Meet the team
Our Partners
Nick Warne F.C.A., A.T.I.I.
Managing Partner – Accountant
Nick joined Cottons in 1987 and moved back into general practice following a spell heading up a taxation team. He was responsible for bringing Cottons forward as a training office for Chartered Accountants and the expansion into their second office in Northampton in 1991. He has overseen further progress as offices have opened in Banbury, Rugby and Southam. During this time Cottons continued to add specialisms to its core accounting services enabling it to grow from a small Daventry based firm to one of the top 100 firms in the UK.
Mark Palmer F.C.A
Partner – Accountant
He specialises in general tax planning advising both owner managed businesses and private individuals Mark said “My job is varied, I like to develop a relationship with my clients and find that I am often the first port of call on matters that have little to do with accountancy”
Lisa Malone F.C.C.A., C.T.A
Partner – Tax Accountant
Lisa joined Cottons as a trainee accountant in 1987 qualifying as a Certified Accountant in 1993. She then went on to qualify as a Chartered Tax Advisor in 2005 and became a partner in 2008.
Lisa is based at our Daventry office running her own portfolio of mainly SME clients in many different trading sectors. In addition to this Lisa continues to support the practice together with a small team of tax professionals in dealing with technical tax issues and planning across all the taxes.
Lisa is based at our Daventry office running her own portfolio of mainly SME clients in many different trading sectors. In addition to this Lisa continues to support the practice together with a small team of tax professionals in dealing with technical tax issues and planning across all the taxes.
Richard Wilch F.C.C.A
Partner – Accountant
Richard joined Cottons LLP in 1989 and has supported the growth of the Daventry Office from general practice work to providing all aspects finance and accounting to large corporate and group structures within the local community , nationally and internationally. Whilst continuing his general practise role for his clients Richard works with the larger corporate entities, helping them to develop internally and strategically as they move in to new markets.
Dave Ingram F.C.C.A.
Partner - Accountant
Dave joined Cottons in 1987 as a trainee and went on to qualify with the firm in 1992. He helped set up the firm’s second office in Northampton and became a Partner in July 1999. Dave now works in our Rugby office as a general practitioner, is a Responsible Individual for audit reports and is also the Employment Partner for the whole firm.
Guy Pain B.A., F.C.A., C.F.
Partner – Corporate Financial Accountant
Guy is a partner who heads up our rapidly expanding corporate finance department. He has over 30 years of experience in corporate finance work and has also worked as a finance director of a large international family owned company. Throughout his career, Guy has focused on developing cost effective and bespoke corporate finance solutions within the owner managed business sector. He is involved in business acquisitions, finance raising, succession planning and business disposals, strategic planning and forecasting, tax efficient corporate structuring and employee incentives, company and business valuations.
Dan Roberts B.A., A.C.A
Partner - Accountant
Dan joined Cottons in 2003 as a trainee after completing a degree in Economics and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2006. After progressing through the ranks of the firm Dan became a Partner in 2013. Dan works with a broad spectrum of clients to improve internal reporting and helping clients understand their accounts as well as advising in general accounting and taxation matters. He is also a director of Northampton BID and is treasurer of a local charity.
Will Smart B.Com, F.C.A
Partner – Accountant
Having originally trained with Cottons in the 1990s, Will then pursued a career outside practice, eventually acting as a Chief Financial Officer. In 2003, a return to practice saw him set up his own firm in London, which he built and eventually sold. Will has remained in general practice since, and returned with his team and clients to Cottons as a partner in 2017. Will has looked after many of his larger clients for over 10 years.
Will’s key aims are to assist small business owners and taxpayers in driving profitability and reducing tax: Through careful planning and a practical approach, he aims to increase wealth generation and retention. His particular interests include countering the current Government’s tax attacks on small owner-managed businesses, contractors / freelancers, and residential landlords.
Emma Reid A.C.A
Partner - Accountant
Emma joined Cottons as a trainee in 2004 following the completion of an Accounting with Law degree at the University of East Anglia. Four years later she qualified as a Chartered Accountant whilst building experience working in general practice in our Daventry office. Since 2011 Emma has been based from our Rugby office working closely with owner-managed SMEs in a wide range of sectors to fulfil their accounting and taxation requirements, she made partner in 2018. Outside of work Emma enjoys spending time with her young family.
Our Northampton Team
Nick Warne F.C.A., A.T.I.I.
Managing Partner – Accountant
Nick joined Cottons in 1987 and moved back into general practice following a spell heading up a taxation team. He was responsible for bringing Cottons forward as a training office for Chartered Accountants and the expansion into their second office in Northampton in 1991. He has overseen further progress as offices have opened in Banbury, Rugby and Southam. During this time Cottons continued to add specialisms to its core accounting services enabling it to grow from a small Daventry based firm to one of the top 100 firms in the UK.
Dan Roberts B.A., A.C.A
Partner - Accountant
Dan joined Cottons in 2003 as a trainee after completing a degree in Economics and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2006. After progressing through the ranks of the firm Dan became a Partner in 2013. Dan works with a broad spectrum of clients to improve internal reporting and helping clients understand their accounts as well as advising in general accounting and taxation matters. He is also a director of Northampton BID and is treasurer of a local charity.
Will Smart B.Com, F.C.A
Partner – Accountant
Having originally trained with Cottons in the 1990s, Will then pursued a career outside practice, eventually acting as a Chief Financial Officer. In 2003, a return to practice saw him set up his own firm in London, which he built and eventually sold. Will has remained in general practice since, and returned with his team and clients to Cottons as a partner in 2017. Will has looked after many of his larger clients for over 10 years.
Will’s key aims are to assist small business owners and taxpayers in driving profitability and reducing tax: Through careful planning and a practical approach, he aims to increase wealth generation and retention. His particular interests include countering the current Government’s tax attacks on small owner-managed businesses, contractors / freelancers, and residential landlords.
Sarah Randall A.C.A
Senior Accountant
Sarah joined Cottons in 2005 whilst on a placement year for her degree. After graduating she was given a training contract with us and qualified as a member of the ICAEW in 2011. Based in our Northampton office she works mostly with owner-managed SMEs, across a broad range of industries, working with new businesses as well as those already established. Sarah also specialises in Solicitors’ Accounts Rules work, leading Cottons’ dedicated team, training others and working with a range of solicitors across the county.
Sarah Kite A.C.C.A
Senior Accountant
Sarah joined Cottons in 2017 as part of Will Smart’s team and is based in our Northampton office. Sarah has over 15 years’ experience in the industry and is qualified AAT and ACCA and member of the VAT Practitioners Group. She works closely with owner-manged SMEs in a wide range of industries ensuring their compliance but also ensuring good communication with her clients for the best possible advice/planning, without the jargon. She has vast knowledge of cloud accounting and is certified to use both Xero and FreeAgent, as well as being a Xero Champion. Her role also includes training and mentoring our junior staff to ensure their growth and expertise develops, building our future accountants.
Jaymesh Patel BSc, A.C.C.A
Senior Accountant
Jaymesh joined Cottons in 2015 and is a qualified member of the ACCA. He graduated with a BSc (hons) in Mathematics from the University in Nottingham and has a passion for working with numbers. He is based in our Northampton office and works closely with a wide range of businesses, assisting them with their Accounts, VAT and Tax planning. Outside of work Jaymesh enjoys playing a lot of different sports, mainly Football, Cricket and Golf.
Matthew Harrison A.T.T., C.T.A.
Tax Manager
Matthew has been working in tax for over 20 years having worked with a variety of different business. Although he is able to help on with a wide range of tax advice from inheritance tax through to corporation tax planning he does have a special interest in working with business’ to provide tax efficient employee reward structures to help recruit, retain and incentivise existing employees. This can range from benefits in kind planning through to employee share schemes. In his spare time Matthew enjoys taking part in and also watching a wide variety of sports in addition to honing his Rubik's cube skills!!
Rebecca Bott
Senior Accountant
Rebecca joined Cottons in 2006 and qualified as a member of the ACA in 2011. Rebecca is based in our Northampton office where she works closely with a wide range of businesses, assisting them with their accountancy, VAT and other requirements. She is also involved in the training and development of our junior members of staff. She has experience in cloud software and is Xero certified.
Paul Brown
Part Qualified Accountant
Paul joined the Cottons team on July 17 and is currently studying towards his final A.C.C.A papers. Paul works mainly on year end accounts, VAT returns, internal audits, management accounts, as well as helping manage our large portfolio of service charge accounts. He is also trained on a wide range of accountancy software’s and is on hand to assist clients with software queries. In his spare time, he enjoys cricket and rugby and most other sports.
Beccy Pullin
Trainee Accountant
Beccy joined in Cottons in July 2017 as a trainee account within Will Smarts team and is based in our Northampton office. She started studying for her ACA in September 2015 and is progressing well. Her role involves working with owner managed SME’s and sole traders assisting with their bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual accounts and personal tax returns. She has experience in cloud software and is Xero certified & a free agent expert.
Sam Rumens
Trainee Accountant
Sam started as a trainee at our Daventry office in 2014, moving to our Northampton office in 2015. His main workload includes preparing accounts for SMEs, business taxation, VAT & book-keeping, as well as providing digital accounting advice and training. Sam is currently studying towards chartered status under the ICAEW framework. Outside of work, he is a keen football fan, supporting the mighty Wealdstone and is also involved in politics, getting elected as a Northants County Councillor in 2017.
Serena Riley C.I.P.P
Payroll Manager
Serena Riley has been working for Cottons since October 2017, with over 20 years payroll experience. Serena specialises in payroll processing, pension deductions and all legislative requirements, also assisting and supporting clients with their own payroll processing queries, and basic employment law.
Sarah Petrie
Company Administration Co-ordinator
Sarah joined Cottons in 2006 as a receptionist at our Northampton office and, after taking a career break to start a family, returned in 2016. Since returning Sarah has taken on the role of Company Administration Co-ordinator and now deals with all company secretarial matters including company formations, new client registrations and general administration.
Miriam Evans
Filing Clerk
After many years of looking for the perfect career, and along the way trying jobs as diverse as Police Officer and Pony Matron, Miriam was delighted to land the position of ‘Filing Clerk’ with Cottons Accountants in September 2017. She thoroughly enjoys being part of this vibrant team and, most of all, to have a job that saves her a gym subscription – with so many stairs to climb and files to carry it keeps her super fit.
Serena Di-Rienzo
Trainee Accountant
Serena joined Cottons in July 2016 as a trainee accountant based in our Northampton Office. She is currently studying for her AAT qualification, and is Xero Advisor Certified. Her position involves working with owner-managed SMEs, completing VAT returns, bookkeeping and accounts for sole traders & Partnerships.
Ross Davidson
Marketing Manager
Ross joined Cottons in 2018 as Marketing Manager. He works closely with each team in developing and supporting the marketing for the business. In his spare time, he enjoys going to the gym and training in various martial arts.
Our Rugby Team
Mark Palmer F.C.A
Partner – Accountant
He specialises in general tax planning advising both owner managed businesses and private individuals Mark said “My job is varied, I like to develop a relationship with my clients and find that I am often the first port of call on matters that have little to do with accountancy”
Dave Ingram F.C.C.A.
Partner - Accountant
Dave joined Cottons in 1987 as a trainee and went on to qualify with the firm in 1992. He helped set up the firm’s second office in Northampton and became a Partner in July 1999. Dave now works in our Rugby office as a general practitioner, is a Responsible Individual for audit reports and is also the Employment Partner for the whole firm.
Emma Reid A.C.A
Partner - Accountant
Emma joined Cottons as a trainee in 2004 following the completion of an Accounting with Law degree at the University of East Anglia. Four years later she qualified as a Chartered Accountant whilst building experience working in general practice in our Daventry office. Since 2011 Emma has been based from our Rugby office working closely with owner-managed SMEs in a wide range of sectors to fulfil their accounting and taxation requirements, she made partner in 2018. Outside of work Emma enjoys spending time with her young family.
Kunal Tailor B.A., A.C.C.A.
Accountant
Kunal joined Cottons in 2014 as a part qualified accountant. While at Cottons he qualified as a member of ACCA in 2015. Having worked in both industry and practice beforehand, he has generated a wide scope of industry knowledge in a variety of sectors. He currently works with owner managed businesses to help them with their accounting and tax requirements. Kunal has built up great knowledge in the area of R&D and he has provided a lot of guidance to clients in this area. Outside of work Kunal enjoys going to the gym and is a proud supporter of Liverpool FC.
James Melvin B.A., A.C.A
Corporate Finance Manager
James has been with Cottons since 2006, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant four years later. In addition to his role as Corporate Finance Manager, James also provides ongoing support to clients and colleagues across the practice. He demonstrates strong technical knowledge and performs the role of Audit Manager for a number of our clients
Lucy Hawkins A.C.C.A.
Accountant
Lucy is a Chartered Certified Accountant with over 10 years experience, in particular the preparation of statutory financial statements, management accounts and managing a portfolio of more than 400 residential service charge accounts. She has gained experience working across a wide variety of industry sectors from sole traders to small companies. Lucy prides herself in offering a friendly, pro-active service. In her spare time she enjoys cooking for my friends and family.
Oliver Vale
Part Qualified Accountant
Oli joined Cottons at our Southam office as an AAT apprentice accountant in 2011 before relocating to his home town of Rugby three years later. He is currently in the final stages of his ACCA training and hopes to have qualified as a chartered accountant during 2018. Oli works with a variety of different businesses including preparing monthly management accounts for several customers. When not at work Oli enjoys playing football for a local 6 a side team as well as adjusting to the joys of parenthood after the arrival of his son, Lewis, in October 2017.
Sarah Palmer
Accountant
Sarah joined the Rugby Office Team in 2008 maintaining clients’ books, preparing VAT returns and annual accounts. Sarah works with a number of our farming clients and, at weekends, can be found out enjoying the countryside with her horse, Victor.
Zack Rees
Trainee Accountant
Zack joined Cottons at our Rugby office in 2015 as a trainee accountant after completing his Accounting & Finance degree at De Montfort University. He is currently studying for the A.C.A qualification. Outside of work Zack competes in the local Rugby & District Pool league and is a proud supporter of Liverpool FC.
Mai Chung
Trainee Accountant
Mai joined Cottons in 2015 as a trainee accountant having studied for a Master of Mathematics degree at the University of Liverpool. Her role at Cottons involves preparing accounts and tax returns, as well as working on both statutory and solicitors account audits. She is currently studying towards her ACA qualification. In her spare time, Mai enjoys spending time with friends & family, eating out and going to the gym.
Mike Jefferson M.A.A.T
Cloud Software Specialist
Mike Joined Cottons in March 2018 as part of our Cloud Accounting team. He is currently working towards his final ACA papers and is aiming to become fully qualified in 2019. Outside of work, Mike enjoys both playing and coaching football.
Lorraine Perham
Receptionist
Lorraine joined Cottons at the Rugby Office in December as a receptionist and secretary, working alongside Julie. Outside of work Lorraine’s passion is her Spanish Andalusian horse, Verano, riding to music and exploring the countryside with him. Lorraine also enjoys spending time with her family in Leicestershire.
Our Daventry Team
Lisa Malone F.C.C.A., C.T.A
Partner – Tax Accountant
Lisa joined Cottons as a trainee accountant in 1987 qualifying as a Certified Accountant in 1993. She then went on to qualify as a Chartered Tax Advisor in 2005 and became a partner in 2008.
Richard Wilch F.C.C.A
Partner – Accountant
Richard joined Cottons LLP in 1989 and has supported the growth of the Daventry Office from general practice work to providing all aspects finance and accounting to large corporate and group structures within the local community , nationally and internationally. Whilst continuing his general practise role for his clients Richard works with the larger corporate entities, helping them to develop internally and strategically as they move in to new markets.
Callum Veasey A.C.C.A, M.A.A.T
Partner Designate
Callum is based at our Daventry Branch and since obtaining the partner designate role in October 2017 is growing his own portfolio steadily. He helps also to support the audit function and is heavily involved with the larger clients we act for in the practice. He has vast experience with dealing with forecasting assignments to help support the corporate finance department and help dealing with financial funding.
Aneta Sheridan B.A, A,C,C,A.
Senior Accountant
Aneta joined Cottons in 2010 as a trainee following completion of Accounting and Finance degree at the University of Northampton. She has qualified as a member of ACCA in 2014. She is also Xero certified. Aneta is based in our Daventry office where she works closely with a wide range of small businesses, assisting them with their accountancy, VAT and other requirements. She is also involved in the training and development of our junior members of staff.
Karl Spencer F.C.C.A, M.A.A.T
Senior Accountant
In 2005 Karl qualified as a Certified Accountant, later that year he joined Cottons. He has over 15 years’ experience in general practice where he specialises in management and corporate accounts. Karl helps manage workflow in the Daventry branch is also part of our Audit team and Corporate Finance Team. Away from work Karl has a passion for motorsports and football, he can be seen supporting his local side Rugby Town FC at the weekends.
Enamul Khan B.A., A.C.C.A
Senior Accountant
Enamul joined Cottons in 2014 and qualified as a member of ACCA in the same year. He is also Xero certified. Enamul is based in our Daventry office where he works closely with a wide range of small businesses and is also a part of our audit team. He manages the work flow in the office and is involved in the training and development of our junior members of staff.
Helen Heckford MSc, A.C.C.A.
Accountant
Helen joined Cottons in 2010 after completing a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Finance at Northampton University. She qualified to become a member of the ACCA in 2016 after taking a break to have her two boys. Helen is based in the Daventry office and assists a range of clients with accounts preparation, VAT and Company Secretarial work, specialising in accounting for Charities and independent examinations. When not at work Helen spends the majority of her spare time at home on the farm.
Laura Sergeant
Part Qualified Accountant
Laura began work at Cottons in June 2015 as a trainee accountant. Now part qualified, she works on a variety of areas, with a main focus in accounts preparation and audit work. Currently studying under ACA, Laura aims to become a fully qualified member of the ICAEW in early 2019.
Megan McGowan
Trainee Accountant
Megan joined Cottons in 2016 after graduating from University. She works in the Daventry office where she does a variety of work with sole traders, limited companies and audits. Megan is now studying towards her A.C.A to become a qualified member of the ICAEW.”
Carrie Betts
Semi Senior Accountant
Carrie joined the Cottons team in June 17 and is currently studying towards her final A.C.C.A papers. Carrie works mainly on year end accounts, VAT returns and management accounts. She is also Xero certified and is on hand to assist clients with software queries. In her spare time she enjoys aerial arts, hiking and yoga.
Joanne Betts
Practice Manager and Credit Control
Jo joined Cottons in 2015, having previously worked in both general practice and industry. She has passed her Association of Accounting Technicians and in 2012 graduated with First class BA Honours degree in Accounting & Finance. She works from our Daventry office as Practice Manager and deals with the day to day administration of Cottons. She also liaises with Cottons clients regarding fee settlement options in her additional role as Credit Control Manager.
Lesley Voss
Personal Tax Compliance
Lesley joined our Daventry office in May 2014 as a tax compliance accountant specialising in personal tax. She has extensive knowledge and experience in income tax and capital gains tax, enabling her to provide a quality and efficient service for clients. Lesley manages a portfolio of clients including sole traders, company directors, partners, high net worth individuals and trustees.
Benjamin Burnett M.C.S.A.
I.T. Specialist
Ben joined Cottons in the summer of 2008 as a trainee accounts technician. He completed his AAT in 2011 when a new opportunity presented itself within Cottons looking after the internal IT infrastructure. Having a strong understanding for IT, Ben took this new role and has continued to support both Cottons and its clients keeping them up-to-date and on the cutting edge of today’s Information Technologies. Combined with Ben’s background originating in accounts preparation and bookkeeping, this allows Cottons to provide a unique IT support service to our clients with their bookkeeping programs.
Dawn Hopper MCIPP(Dip)
Payroll Manager
Dawn is our payroll bureau manager with over 20 years payroll experience and is based in our Daventry office. She specialises in payroll processing including pension deductions and all legislative requirements for RTI, assisting clients with their own payroll processing queries/computer programme support and basic employment law.
Tejas Pathak
Payroll Administrator
Tejas has over three year’s payroll and administration experience. He has good experience in processing weekly, monthly and quarterly payroll including dealing with workplace pensions, HMRC queries and assisting clients with their payroll requirements. Tejas completed his degree in Computer Science at the University of Greenwich followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management at Plymouth University before joining Cottons.
Our London Team
Ollie Warne A.C.A
Associate Partner
Ollie has been a fully qualified chartered accountant since 2012. With strong technical knowledge of taxes and fantastic experience within all areas of an accountancy practice. This has put him in a position to work with Cottons Chartered Accountants and open up their London branch. The branch opened in May 2017. Cottons London will specialise in providing all accounting requirements for SMEs but being part of the Cottons network means we will always be able to meet client requirements however big you grow.
Ross Stokes A.C.A.
Chartered Accountant
Ross is an ACA chartered accountant who works particularly with small businesses, qualifying in 2012. Ross gained his practising certificate in 2017 and now works on a varied portfolio of clients in our London office taking a special interest in each one. He enjoys getting to know each client’s business thoroughly and is happy to advise on all areas of business. In particular business plans and forecasts with a view to gaining investment along with the usual tax planning and business advice which is vital to a small business.