Tax
-
eaga plc
"Steve was an inspired choice. Because of the unique complexities of the ownership of eaga, the trustees and the directors had to grapple with a wide range of significant interlinked issues. Steve became an integral part of the team and provided excellent guidance often making extremely complicated issues simple to understand.
I was very impressed by the unw team throughout. At eaga we are proud of our culture and own commitment to service excellence; I think the unw team demonstrated their commitment to service excellence throughout the IPO process, frequently exceeding our already high expectations. They also demonstrated a good sense of humour".
–John Clough, ex-Chief Executive
-
n-psl Limited
"I was very excited when I came across the filtration technology developed by Bath University as I could see massive commercial potential. However there were a number of complexities in putting the deal together and unw guided us expertly throughout the process".
–Colin Billiet
-
Waters & Robson
"I appointed unw to advise me on the sale. I found their advice to be superb throughout. We had interest from several national and international companies however unw managed the process so that we were always in control.
The pace of the negotiations moved up several gears during the last week of the sale as Coke's London based M&A team, supplemented by specialists flown in from all over the world, chose to work through the night. I sat through all the negotiations and unw proved to be more than a match for them".
–Tony Robson (Managing Director and controlling shareholder of Waters & Robson (Abbey Well) prior to the sale to Coca Cola)
Corporate Finance
-
Responsive Group
"We believe we have received better, more constructive advice compared to the advice we received from our previous advisors. We were delighted with the work that you carried out in relation to our acquisition of Exact Engineering. We have been particularly impressed with unw’s tax team. We benefit from regular and easy contact with the partners at unw.
We get an excellent level of responsiveness and service from unw and feel as thought this is a priority to your firm. We have achieved significant cost savings as a result of moving to unw. We have never received any form of adverse comment in relation to our decision to move from a Big 4 firm to a local independent firm".
–Steve Simpson, Group Financial Director
-
TRW Automotive, Peterlee
"The continued support from the County and region is extremely valuable to TRW. Coupled with our highly motivated and skilled workforce, it makes Peterlee an excellent location for business. 2008 is proving to be a great year for us: we gained the prestigious “Queens Award for International Trade” and continue to see our sales grow. Achieving this level of grant support was critical to the plants future and Mark Simpson of unw LLP provided us with real expertise in this area enabling us to maximise the opportunity".
–Phil Pearce, Plant Manager
-
Intersnack Limited
"The management team at Intersnack is delighted with the grant award from One NorthEast, secured with the excellent support of UNW Corporate Finance".
–Michael Weatherhead, Finance Director
-
eaga plc
"Acquiring financial support was important as part of our plans to win new contracts and expand our business with the prospect of creating additional North East jobs.
The process can be complex and time consuming, but we were delighted that Mark Simpson of unw was able to guide our management team through the development of the planning process, forecasts, eventual successful submission to ONE and subsequent negotiations".
–Scott Hopkinson
-
Vendor of DW Tilley to Mitie PLC
"A brief note of thanks for all the hard work unw have put in on the sale of the Company. In particular we would like to pass on our thanks to Zara (Lane). Throughout the process from negotiation to completion she has handled the matter diligently and professionally and I would not hesitate to recommend her to any other individual selling or buying a business".
–Dave Tilley, Vendor of DW Tilley to Mitie PLC
-
AXA (UK) plc
"unw and Mark Simpson in particular were quick to understand the needs of our business and were on hand to help us navigate our way through the complex application process. The team here have all worked hard to grow the business, and thanks to this grant we can now move the business forward, extend our product range and create new jobs. The excellent support we received from Mark was invaluable, professional and first rate".
–David Fretter, Operations Director
-
HLA Services Limited
"As a busy service provider HLA Services Limited greatly appreciated the assistance given by unw in securing the grant in the time frame required allowing us to concentrate on our existing business requirements and ensuring we were able to claim the full amount which was required in order to make the expansion achievable".
–Neil Henry, Service & Maintenance Director
Audit and Assurance
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Crossling Limited
"As a locally based company with a £75m turnover, we were keen to ensure that we moved to a firm with the necessary expertise and experience to handle our audit, tax compliance and tax advisory work. Having been with our previous advisors for over 20 years, we had to be convinced that unw had the capability to deliver the services we required. We have now been advised by unw for 2 years and our Finance Director and myself are entirely satisfied that we took the right decision and remain happy with the audit and tax services provided…we believe unw gives us a more hands on approach and is more proactive to our needs".
–Richard Errington, Managing Director
-
Culture North East
"...However, amongst the thanks and farewells we made the Directors and staff team present were unanimous in requesting that I write to you (both) to offer our very sincere and heartfelt thanks for the work you have undertaken on our behalf. The support you have given at crucial times has been invaluable, we have appreciated the speed with which you reacted and the thoroughness and clarity with which you advised us. Culture North East has been fortunate in many ways...and we have certainly been well supported and assisted by you as our Auditors".
–Olivia Grant, Former Chair
-
Cels Group
"Having recently appointed unw as auditors we have been delighted that they have been thorough, responsive and constructive and have lived up to the commitments they gave through the tender process. We find the team to be accessible and we value the breadth of expertise that they have locally. We were impressed, for example, that they pro actively provided corporate tax advice rather than just completing our computation".
–Anthea Morris, Group Financial Director
-
Cels Group
"The Cels Group is delighted with the quality of our audit and the smooth transition to unw LLP. The audit team has been professional and approachable and taken on board our comments about how we would like the audit to progress. unw worked with us to produce a high quality set of financial statements. We are grateful for the work they have put in to make the first audit a faster and more efficient process".
–Alastair Balls, Chair, Audit Committee
-
Codeworks
“Despite being a new client for unw, we found that the audit was performed efficiently and with minimum disruption. The Audit Committee felt that, during the planning process, unw had appropriately identified key areas that were critical to the business and therefore of relevant concern to them and the Board of Directors. It was also evident that Andrew Wilson adopted a well informed but balanced, common sense business approach to these key issues. The Board was particularly impressed with the ‘Clearance Document’ which provided an extremely useful overview of the Group’s position, and of issues arising during the course of the audit. This greatly assisted the Directors in making appropriate decisions in respect of the financial statements. Overall we were very pleased with the level of service, the good response times in terms of communication, and we acknowledge that the change in auditors has brought a new, fresh and beneficial insight to the Group’s activities.”
–John McDonald, Finance Manager
Business Services
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New Skills Consulting Limited
"The strategy project with unw provided our senior management team with time and space, away from the day-to-day issues of running the business, to really analyse and debate our plans for the future. The facilitator helped us to hone in on the key opportunities and challenges before us, to understand which of them will be critical in shaping the future success of the business, and to clarify how we’ll balance our personal objectives and responsibilities with business success. Our new strategic plan creates a future vision of the business, supported by a detailed 5 year financial profile and a really practical action plan to help us achieve our goals. I would highly recommend the service to any business that needs to clarify and plan its future strategic direction and financial performance".
–Peter Graham, Managing Director
-
Shimmer Telecom Limited
"Thanks very much for the session (with yourself and Alan) last week, and the subsequent documentation. It has acted as a useful way for me to structure more clearly my thinking about the potential next stages for me to take and I will certainly be recommending it to others".
–Seamus Butler, Managing Director
-
Greg Cadman
“I have recently bought a dental practice for the first time and really needed good help and advice. I found Alan (Suggett) to be extremely knowledgeable in all aspects related to the purchase and he was able to guide me through the process very easily. He was particularly helpful in drawing up a business plan and calculating a suitable price to offer the vendor. He was always contactable if advice was needed and he also introduced me to very experienced people in areas such as banking, insurance cover and legal matters”.
–Greg Cadman
-
SRDP - Sunderland & Dean Road Dental Practices, South Shields
"Alan Suggett has provided accountancy services and advice to our dental practices for a number of years and we have recently followed him when he joined unw. His experience of working with local dental practitioners and understanding of the business of dentistry is unrivalled in the North East. When we expanded the practice his knowledge of goodwill values and financial modelling was particularly helpful. With input from his colleagues at unw he has recently helped us to mitigate the effects on our business of the planned changes in tax regime in April 2010 and 2011, taking into account the clear benefits of the incorporation of our business on which he also provided advice".
–Paul Blaylock
-
AXA (UK) plc
"unw and Mark Simpson in particular were quick to understand the needs of our business and were on hand to help us navigate our way through the complex application process. The team here have all worked hard to grow the business, and thanks to this grant we can now move the business forward, extend our product range and create new jobs. The excellent support we received from Mark was invaluable, professional and first rate".
–David Fretter, Operations Director
-
Cels Group
"Having recently appointed unw as auditors we have been delighted that they have been thorough, responsive and constructive and have lived up to the commitments they gave through the tender process. We find the team to be accessible and we value the breadth of expertise that they have locally. We were impressed, for example, that they pro actively provided corporate tax advice rather than just completing our computation".
–Anthea Morris, Group Financial Director
-
Cels Group
"The Cels Group is delighted with the quality of our audit and the smooth transition to unw LLP. The audit team has been professional and approachable and taken on board our comments about how we would like the audit to progress. unw worked with us to produce a high quality set of financial statements. We are grateful for the work they have put in to make the first audit a faster and more efficient process".
–Alastair Balls, Chair, Audit Committee
-
Codeworks
“Despite being a new client for unw, we found that the audit was performed efficiently and with minimum disruption. The Audit Committee felt that, during the planning process, unw had appropriately identified key areas that were critical to the business and therefore of relevant concern to them and the Board of Directors. It was also evident that Andrew Wilson adopted a well informed but balanced, common sense business approach to these key issues. The Board was particularly impressed with the ‘Clearance Document’ which provided an extremely useful overview of the Group’s position, and of issues arising during the course of the audit. This greatly assisted the Directors in making appropriate decisions in respect of the financial statements. Overall we were very pleased with the level of service, the good response times in terms of communication, and we acknowledge that the change in auditors has brought a new, fresh and beneficial insight to the Group’s activities.”
–John McDonald, Finance Manager
-
Crossling Limited
"As a locally based company with a £75m turnover, we were keen to ensure that we moved to a firm with the necessary expertise and experience to handle our audit, tax compliance and tax advisory work. Having been with our previous advisors for over 20 years, we had to be convinced that unw had the capability to deliver the services we required. We have now been advised by unw for 2 years and our Finance Director and myself are entirely satisfied that we took the right decision and remain happy with the audit and tax services provided…we believe unw gives us a more hands on approach and is more proactive to our needs".
–Richard Errington, Managing Director
-
Culture North East
"...However, amongst the thanks and farewells we made the Directors and staff team present were unanimous in requesting that I write to you (both) to offer our very sincere and heartfelt thanks for the work you have undertaken on our behalf. The support you have given at crucial times has been invaluable, we have appreciated the speed with which you reacted and the thoroughness and clarity with which you advised us. Culture North East has been fortunate in many ways...and we have certainly been well supported and assisted by you as our Auditors".
–Olivia Grant, Former Chair
-
eaga plc
"Steve was an inspired choice. Because of the unique complexities of the ownership of eaga, the trustees and the directors had to grapple with a wide range of significant interlinked issues. Steve became an integral part of the team and provided excellent guidance often making extremely complicated issues simple to understand.
I was very impressed by the unw team throughout. At eaga we are proud of our culture and own commitment to service excellence; I think the unw team demonstrated their commitment to service excellence throughout the IPO process, frequently exceeding our already high expectations. They also demonstrated a good sense of humour".
–John Clough, ex-Chief Executive
-
eaga plc
"Acquiring financial support was important as part of our plans to win new contracts and expand our business with the prospect of creating additional North East jobs.
The process can be complex and time consuming, but we were delighted that Mark Simpson of unw was able to guide our management team through the development of the planning process, forecasts, eventual successful submission to ONE and subsequent negotiations".
–Scott Hopkinson
-
Greg Cadman
“I have recently bought a dental practice for the first time and really needed good help and advice. I found Alan (Suggett) to be extremely knowledgeable in all aspects related to the purchase and he was able to guide me through the process very easily. He was particularly helpful in drawing up a business plan and calculating a suitable price to offer the vendor. He was always contactable if advice was needed and he also introduced me to very experienced people in areas such as banking, insurance cover and legal matters”.
–Greg Cadman
-
HLA Services Limited
"As a busy service provider HLA Services Limited greatly appreciated the assistance given by unw in securing the grant in the time frame required allowing us to concentrate on our existing business requirements and ensuring we were able to claim the full amount which was required in order to make the expansion achievable".
–Neil Henry, Service & Maintenance Director
-
Intersnack Limited
"The management team at Intersnack is delighted with the grant award from One NorthEast, secured with the excellent support of UNW Corporate Finance".
–Michael Weatherhead, Finance Director
-
n-psl Limited
"I was very excited when I came across the filtration technology developed by Bath University as I could see massive commercial potential. However there were a number of complexities in putting the deal together and unw guided us expertly throughout the process".
–Colin Billiet
-
New Skills Consulting Limited
"The strategy project with unw provided our senior management team with time and space, away from the day-to-day issues of running the business, to really analyse and debate our plans for the future. The facilitator helped us to hone in on the key opportunities and challenges before us, to understand which of them will be critical in shaping the future success of the business, and to clarify how we’ll balance our personal objectives and responsibilities with business success. Our new strategic plan creates a future vision of the business, supported by a detailed 5 year financial profile and a really practical action plan to help us achieve our goals. I would highly recommend the service to any business that needs to clarify and plan its future strategic direction and financial performance".
–Peter Graham, Managing Director
-
Responsive Group
"We believe we have received better, more constructive advice compared to the advice we received from our previous advisors. We were delighted with the work that you carried out in relation to our acquisition of Exact Engineering. We have been particularly impressed with unw’s tax team. We benefit from regular and easy contact with the partners at unw.
We get an excellent level of responsiveness and service from unw and feel as thought this is a priority to your firm. We have achieved significant cost savings as a result of moving to unw. We have never received any form of adverse comment in relation to our decision to move from a Big 4 firm to a local independent firm".
–Steve Simpson, Group Financial Director
-
Shimmer Telecom Limited
"Thanks very much for the session (with yourself and Alan) last week, and the subsequent documentation. It has acted as a useful way for me to structure more clearly my thinking about the potential next stages for me to take and I will certainly be recommending it to others".
–Seamus Butler, Managing Director
-
SRDP - Sunderland & Dean Road Dental Practices, South Shields
"Alan Suggett has provided accountancy services and advice to our dental practices for a number of years and we have recently followed him when he joined unw. His experience of working with local dental practitioners and understanding of the business of dentistry is unrivalled in the North East. When we expanded the practice his knowledge of goodwill values and financial modelling was particularly helpful. With input from his colleagues at unw he has recently helped us to mitigate the effects on our business of the planned changes in tax regime in April 2010 and 2011, taking into account the clear benefits of the incorporation of our business on which he also provided advice".
–Paul Blaylock
-
TRW Automotive, Peterlee
"The continued support from the County and region is extremely valuable to TRW. Coupled with our highly motivated and skilled workforce, it makes Peterlee an excellent location for business. 2008 is proving to be a great year for us: we gained the prestigious “Queens Award for International Trade” and continue to see our sales grow. Achieving this level of grant support was critical to the plants future and Mark Simpson of unw LLP provided us with real expertise in this area enabling us to maximise the opportunity".
–Phil Pearce, Plant Manager
-
Vendor of DW Tilley to Mitie PLC
"A brief note of thanks for all the hard work unw have put in on the sale of the Company. In particular we would like to pass on our thanks to Zara (Lane). Throughout the process from negotiation to completion she has handled the matter diligently and professionally and I would not hesitate to recommend her to any other individual selling or buying a business".
–Dave Tilley, Vendor of DW Tilley to Mitie PLC
-
Waters & Robson
"I appointed unw to advise me on the sale. I found their advice to be superb throughout. We had interest from several national and international companies however unw managed the process so that we were always in control.
The pace of the negotiations moved up several gears during the last week of the sale as Coke's London based M&A team, supplemented by specialists flown in from all over the world, chose to work through the night. I sat through all the negotiations and unw proved to be more than a match for them".
–Tony Robson (Managing Director and controlling shareholder of Waters & Robson (Abbey Well) prior to the sale to Coca Cola)