35 Under 35 Winners 2026

Alice Pearce

Accounting & Business Services Director, Wilson Partners

Alice has led a strategic shift away from historic compliance reporting toward real-time operational insights. By hosting client strategy days and implementing ongoing advisory engagements, she works directly with SME owners to influence future commercial strategy rather than merely processing historical data.

She was instrumental in integrating and scaling Wilson Partners’ delivery team based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Rather than running an arms-length outsourced back-office function, Alice embedded the 53-person South African unit as a fully integrated extension of the UK firm, establishing shared operational processes and cultural alignment across both locations.

Alice Speed

Deals Tax Senior Associate, PwC

Operating across PwC’s Portfolio & Restructuring tax teams, Alice advises private equity-backed and distressed clients on complex statutory frameworks, including Controlled Foreign Companies (CFC) legislation, Loans to Participators, the Corporate Interest Restriction, and Substantial Shareholding Exemptions.

Over the past year, she doubled revenue on her largest tax compliance account by negotiating fees for out-of-scope advisory work. Her recent deal sheet includes coordinating the filing of 30 corporate tax returns, supporting a multi-million-pound corporate demerger, assisting on a vendor review for a €1 billion transaction, and authoring a technical CFC report covering roughly 80 global entities.

Becky Dawson

Technical Accounting Partner, Azets

Joining Garbutt & Elliott (acquired by Azets) in 2012 as an 18-year-old school leaver, Becky qualified as an ACA in 2018 and identified a market gap for mid-tier technical accounting advice positioned competitively against Big Four fee structures. Over six years, she scaled the firm’s dedicated technical accounting service line from two team members to over 20 nationwide, growing annual revenues from £120,000 to more than £2.3 million at top-tier gross margins.

Promoted to Partner in March 2026 at age 32, Becky leads specialist engagements covering share-based payments, purchase price allocations, financial instruments, IFRS/GAAP conversions, and IPO readiness. She also established an internal audit support framework to assist Azets audit teams with complex technical testing, including the application of AI tools to test lease accounting under new UK GAAP.

Ben Brophy

Founder & Director, Brophy Accountancy & Advisory | Industrial Fellow, Aston University

Ben leads BAA Group, delivering operational overhauls for small businesses. In a recent project, he transitioned a £500,000-turnover automotive garage from paper logs and shared credit cards to Xero, modern data-capture tools, and individual employee cards, eliminating manual bookkeeping bottlenecks and saving the client an estimated five hours per week.

As an Industrial Fellow at Aston University—where 81% of undergraduates come from minoritised ethnic backgrounds—Ben teaches cloud accounting and AI-driven workflows. During the 2025–2026 academic year, he guided approximately 400 students toward software certifications in platforms such as Sage and Xero.

Ben Steele

Managing Director, Streets (Bristol)

Ben founded a digital-first, paperless cloud practice in 2017, expanding it to £2 million in annual revenue over seven years before merging into the Streets group.

To address SME demand for ongoing commercial direction, Ben developed “ViFi,” a hybrid service model combining traditional practice compliance with an embedded virtual finance function. The service provides growing businesses with routine operational support without the overhead of an in-house finance team.

Within the broader Streets organisation, Ben serves as national Head of Making Tax Digital (MTD) and Head of Cloud across the South and West. He oversees group-wide digital transformation, leads the centralized credit control function, and restructured practice roles to transition junior staff from manual data entry into early-stage advisory work.

Chan Singh Landa

Partner, Azets

Promoted to Partner at age 33 following 14 years in practice, Chan leads Accounts & Business Advisory in Coventry, oversees regional growth initiatives, and heads the Medical Services practice across the Midlands.

Chan directed the digital modernization of the Coventry office, executing software migrations, integrating AI-driven process automation into compliance workflows, and conducting structured upskilling sessions to ensure team adaptability.

Chan helped secure firm-level awards for diversity, equality, and apprenticeship development. Externally, he regularly volunteers with international and regional charities, including Khalsa Aid and the Midlands Langar Seva Society.

David Lloyd

Director, Saffery

Qualifying as an ACA and CTA in 2019, David operates within Saffery’s Sports & Entertainment team, specializing in international tax planning, image rights structuring, and agency fee regulations.

During the summer 2025 transfer window, David advised on over £375 million worth of Premier League player transfers. In one engagement, his tax restructuring of an image rights agreement yielded up to £2 million in savings for a Premier League player, converting the instruction into an ongoing client retainer. Through his direct professional network, David generates over £100,000 in recurring annual fee revenue.

Fabio Riccio

Partner, Accounts & Business Services, BKL

Entering the profession via the social mobility charity Leadership Through Sport & Business (LTSB) after initially training as a mechanic, Fabio joined BKL as an apprentice. In April 2026, ten years after joining the firm, he became BKL’s youngest partner.

Since April 2026, Fabio has secured £200,000 in cross-service contract wins. His partner portfolio includes a long-standing luxury timepiece client (delivering a 4% revenue increase following second-generation succession) and an overseas renewable energy investment group generating £50,000 in recurring revenue. To date, he has mentored eight internal staff promotions.

Glenn Gittins

Managing Director, Virgate Accounts

Over a nine-year period, 31-year-old Glenn helped scale Virgate Accounts from a £100,000-turnover startup into an outsourced bookkeeping and management accounts business generating £1.7 million in annual revenue—a 17-fold growth trajectory.

Holding AAT credentials, Glenn directed Virgate’s business development, software integration, and client management. He operates as a de facto Finance Director for major clients in the hospitality sector, including regional pub groups, translating financial data into commercial reporting.

Glenn’s operational management and client retention frameworks were central to preparing Virgate for its acquisition by Access Healthcare Services in May 2024, a transaction process he helped manage.

Harry Kendall

Partner, Saffery LLP

Promoted to Partner in April 2026 and appointed Responsible Individual (RI) in July 2025, Harry reached both milestones just 9.5 years after joining Saffery as a graduate trainee. He manages complex audit engagements spanning corporates, landed estates, charities, pensions, and FCA-regulated entities across both FRS 102 and IFRS.

Harry leads Saffery’s national Audit Efficiency Group, where he designed standardized planning workbooks, audit summary templates, and training resources now deployed firm-wide. He also sits at the forefront of the firm’s software and AI integration initiatives.

James Wright

Senior Lecturer & Programme Leader, University of Chichester

James spearheaded the strategy that earned the University of Chichester the 2025 PQ Magazine Public Sector College of the Year award, while guiding the student Business Society to secure the 2025 PQ Student Body of the Year title.

Named one of the Vevox Top 50 Voices in Higher Education for 2026, James actively pilots AI workflows to scale student mentoring and administrative efficiency. He also works directly with bodies like ACCA and software vendors like QuickBooks to bridge higher education with industry practice.

Jamie Peppin

Director, Gerald Edelman

Jointly managing a major business services portfolio alongside CEO Carl Lundberg with minimal partner intervention, Jamie grew fee revenues by 14% year-on-year to £1.932m in 2025/26, with May 2026 billings running 18% ahead of the previous year.

Jamie acts as quasi-FD for complex clients, including property funds, family offices, acquisitive Search Fund groups, and Flight Story, one of the UK’s fastest-growing media groups. He maintains an exceptional client retention record, losing only two clients since 2023.

Jamie led the firm’s Dext implementation, project-managed the trial of Glide workflow systems, and is piloting AI financial close agents like Mimo. As an official “Bkeeper,” he actively drives B Corp compliance, resulting in record employee charity day utilization.

Janice Tang 

Associate Director, Wilson Partners

Following Wilson Partners’ acquisition of Max Accountants, Janice managed the operational integration for over 20 staff members, leading IT software migrations and establishing unified reporting standards during a major director transition.

Janice took full commercial ownership of a £700,000 annual recurring fee portfolio from a retiring founding director. Her strategic oversight helped scale team revenue from £1.3m to £1.9m over 18 months without increasing headcount, achieved through pricing reviews and process optimization.

Promoted to Associate Director, Janice directly manages nine accountants while overseeing a wider department of 20+ professionals. She works alongside executive leadership on budgeting, financial forecasting, and embedding AI automation into routine workflow processes.

Joanna Fleming

Director & Head of Medical, Fortus

Operating exclusively within the primary care sector, Joanna advises GP practices on complex NHS pension arrangements, partnership agreements, property financing, and practice mergers amid shrinking operational margins.

Joanna spent six months untangling and correcting historic NHS pension records for a senior GP, securing their retirement and creating a preventative pension audit protocol now applied across her entire client base.

She led hesitant medical practices through cloud transitions to Xero ahead of Making Tax Digital, turning compliance into real-time reporting. A former President of the York Society of Chartered Accountants, Joanna sits on the ICAEW West and North Yorkshire Network Board and mentors ICAEW trainees.

Laura O’Regan

Director, Fortus

 Laura systematically replaced traditional year-end account reviews with recurring, live-data strategic planning sessions. This shift grew her recurring advisory portfolio by 130% and increased her annual recurring fee income by 195% since 2023, while keeping client retention above 95%.

Laura restructured a founder-led business exit following failed external sales, structuring a management buyout (MBO) that paid out exiting shareholders a full year ahead of schedule. She also established a fixed-fee advisory model that increased recurring monthly/quarterly fees across her portfolio by 267% since 2021.

Liam Wilson

Director & Founder, Elevate Accountancy

Liam built Elevate Accountancy from zero clients to a team of eight supporting over 560 clients in under three years, generating £548,866 in year-two revenue and tracking past £700,000 in year three.

 Liam implemented automation that reduced administrative tasks by over 50%. He enforced strict operational standards, including a mandatory four-hour client response time and treating any client chase as a formal complaint, maintaining a Net Promoter Score above 99 and 97 five-star Google reviews.

Moving away from standard compliance, Liam’s structured advisory model has turned loss-making client businesses profitable within months through strategic repricing and cash flow restructuring.

Martyn Smith

Group Managing Partner, TC Group

Martyn is Partner at TC Group Portsmouth and the youngest Group Managing Partner in TC Group’s history, influencing strategic performance and cross-office collaboration across partner firms nationwide.

Martyn co-designed and launched TC Group’s inaugural Leadership Development Programme, created to train rising professionals in commercial, interpersonal, and operational skills alongside technical compliance.

Serving as Board Sponsor for TC Digital LABS, Martyn oversees group-wide technology, practice administration workflows, and AI adoption, ensuring innovation directly translates into capacity creation and improved client delivery.

Matthew Bather

Audit Partner, Moore Kingston Smith

Made Partner at age 30, Matthew led the deployment of Caseware Cloud Audit across five regional offices, redesigning audit files to align with global methodologies.

Matthew maintains partner-led oversight on major engagements, including guiding the audit structure of a rapidly growing business as it expanded from a £170m turnover owner-managed firm into a private equity-backed group exceeding £750m in revenue.

Matthew serves on the Moore South Audit Committee, Moore Kingston Smith Audit Quality Board, and Moore UK Audit Technical Group. He trains a regional team of 50 audit professionals and organized team charity initiatives raising approximately £9,000 for local causes.

Meia Manton-Jones

Director, HaysMac LLP

Promoted to Director in January 2026, Meia oversees complex real estate engagements representing roughly 20% of firm fee income, achieving a 96% client retention rate through technical advice on FRS 102 and IFRS.

As a member of the Real Estate management board, she leads a 50-person team, having expanded the manager pool from 7 to 14 while contributing to a 100% audit inspection rating from the ICAEW and FRC.

Co-founder of the FutureGen Female Event Series (400+ members) and founder of ConnectHer, a sector community for senior female finance leaders and founders that has scaled to over 185 members.

Natasha Millward

Client Service Director, DJH

Having started as a trainee at 17, Natasha brought nearly £1m in new recurring fees to DJH in her first 12 months, managing a £1m portfolio across 60 clients in Manchester.

 Led DJH’s advisory team on the cross-border sale of IPEC Limited to global technology group ABB, while actively advising on three further deals totalling £30m.

Leads a 39-person Manchester team and helped identify a key regional practice acquisition for DJH’s ongoing buy-and-build strategy.

Neal Lees

Partner, Buzzacott

Promoted to Director within 12 months of joining Buzzacott and to Partner 18 months later, Neal achieved 28% portfolio growth alongside a 17% year-to-date turnover increase.

A CTA and STEP Affiliate Member, Neal leads technical guidance on non-UK domicile tax changes, advising ultra-high-net-worth clients on offshore trust structures and the Temporary Repatriation Facility.

Recipient of the Gold Award at the CityWealth Future Leaders Awards (Accountant of the Year) and a published author across Taxation Magazine, FT Adviser, and IFA Magazine.

Oliver White

Director, Affinia

Serving as a Responsible Individual (RI) and Head of the Halstead office, Oliver helped expand Affinia’s audit portfolio beyond £1m, leading key engagements in construction and logistics.

Spearheaded firm-wide technology integration and audit workflow standardization, balancing regulatory compliance with delivery efficiency.

Self-funded his initial AAT studies before achieving his ACA, now actively mentoring junior staff and serving as a local school governor.

Peter Cowan

Director, Hall Morrice LLP

Appointed as Hall Morrice’s youngest-ever Director of Audit and Accounting at 32, Peter led the complex financial integration and consolidation modeling for a UK business acquired by a Norwegian parent entity.

Led the firm’s transition from paper-based audits to cloud platforms, embedding Power BI to turn raw client data into commercial advisory insights.

Holds RI status and serves as the firm’s representative on the PrimeGlobal IT Communities of Practice.

Robert Levett

Partner, Attune Advisory

Co-founded Cambridge-based Attune Accountants in 2026, building an advisory-led practice around automated workflows and data discipline.

Co-founded and serves as Chief Product Officer for Adviisa, an AI-driven secure client data and workflow platform launched in April 2026.

Former Director at S&W, leveraging deep experience in private equity firm integrations, valuations, and board-level corporate restructuring.

Ross Milne

Manager, Hall Morrice LLP

Redesigned the firm’s trainee intake framework as Hall Morrice doubled its overall headcount from 45 to nearly 90 staff.

Established recruitment pathways with local secondary schools at National 5 level and recruited the practice’s first school-leaver graduate apprentice.

Created the ‘Your CA Journey’ onboarding and study framework, enabling recent trainees to qualify within days of final exam completion.

Rowan Morrow-McDade

Tax Director, Alexander & Co

A prominent public advocate whose technical debunks of social media property “tax loopholes” have been featured by Tax Policy Associates, The Times, Financial Times, and The Independent.

Investigated and exposed illegal unpaid graduate roles listed on public job boards, prompting regulatory review by the ICAEW to protect new entrants.

Reached over 600,000 LinkedIn members with 2m+ impressions in 2025, launching a free tax education portal and completing the Diploma in Tax Technology.

Sally Casson

Audit Partner, Ecovis Wingrave Yeats

Appointed Audit Partner in July 2026, managing complex group audits across owner-managed and international corporate structures.

Transformed internal training by introducing role-play audit simulations, fraud case studies, and practical AI use-cases under new ISA standards.

Member of the firm’s strategic leadership board, driving its successful B Corp certification and leading international network engagement through ECOVIS.

Sam Rumens

Regional Managing Partner (North & Midlands), Streets

Sam entered accountancy via a school-leaver apprenticeship, balancing his professional training with eight years as an elected local councillor in Northamptonshire from age 21. This background in public communication, stakeholder management, and decision-making under pressure has proven pivotal to his change-management approach within practice leadership.

Joining Streets in July 2024 as Banbury Office Director, Sam was appointed Regional Managing Partner for the North and Midlands at age 30, driving integration and operational consistency across newly acquired practices.

Saskia Harrison

Director, Gerald Edelman

Audit Director and the firm’s sole female Responsible Individual (RI), Saskia delivers 17% of Gerald Edelman’s total audit portfolio fees and achieved a 23% year-on-year expansion in her international client base through strategic business development.

Mentors 30 ACA trainees, oversees a training framework for over 100 qualified professionals, and founded Gerald Edelman’s inaugural audit apprenticeship recruitment program.

Spearheaded the firm’s rebranded female networking initiative, Women Who Lead, connecting internal talent and external business leaders across London and the wider commercial community.

Seb Cartwright

Partner, Saffery

Joined Saffery as a graduate trainee 13 years ago and achieved partnership at age 30. Just nine and a half years after beginning his ACA studies.

Expanded Saffery’s Transaction Services footprint from a 3-person London outfit into a 15-person national team, while serving as Staff Partner for over 100 corporate finance professionals and Chairing Nexia’s International Valuations and Transaction Services groups.

As Chair of Saffery’s Innovation Group, Seb collaborates directly with IT leadership to develop and embed agentic AI workflow solutions across transaction due diligence and valuation services.

Stephanie Baker

Partner, Xeinadin

Progressed from graduate trainee to one of Xeinadin’s youngest Audit Partners, serving as an ICAEW Responsible Individual, ATOL Reporting Accountant, and key member of the group’s ISQM 1 Root Cause Analysis Group.

Currently leading the consolidation of audit operations across Chester, Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Wrexham into a unified regional Audit Centre of Excellence to standardize quality monitoring and resource allocation.

Active role model for working mothers in senior practice management, regularly representing female leadership on Xeinadin’s national panels and international conferences.

Stephanie Collins

Head of Accountancy & Professional Standards, Mazuma

As Mazuma’s longest-serving team member (17 years), Stephanie helped establish the firm’s subscription-based cloud delivery model and designed its firm-wide digital Quality Assurance platform to standardize compliance across growing client volumes.

Overhauling traditional, shortcut-driven tax training, she developed a hands-on coaching framework across AAT, ACCA, and ACA tracks that bridges technical knowledge gaps and accelerates junior career progression.

Recognized as Highly Commended Accountant of the Year at the Finance Awards Wales for her long-term contribution to widening access and developing female finance leadership.

Tom Denmead

Bursar, Berkhampstead School & Day Nurseries

ACA-qualified at age 28, Tom moved directly from practice audit into senior operational leadership as Bursar, overseeing financial strategy and management for a 480-pupil education group.

Delivered a 20% group revenue increase by leading the acquisition and financial integration of an additional day nursery, while saving overhead costs by bringing catering and cleaning operations in-house across a more than 35-person operational team.

Guided the organization through complex fiscal shifts, including the introduction of VAT on private school fees and co-founded the Cheltenham Wheelchair Rugby Club (granted charitable status in 2025), supporting players through to the 2024 Paralympic Games.

Ben Allen

Partner, Glazers

One of the youngest partners in Glazers’ history, Ben grew firm fee income and client volume by over 15% through a selective “quality over quantity” acquisition strategy that emphasizes high retention over short-term churn.

Introduced AI tools directly into tax and compliance workflows to eliminate repetitive manual administration, protecting operating margins while increasing capacity for advisory services.

Shortlisted for the ACE Awards 2026 for Service Charge Accountancy Firm of the Year, while reaching over 200,000 readers through regular digital commentary on tax demystification and SME growth.

Will Winstone

Director, HaysMac LLP

Manages a £1m audit client portfolio while sitting on the Audit Executive Team and acting as firmwide Head of Learning & Development, overseeing the development pipeline for 65 annual trainees across five audit teams.

Designed and rolled out over 50 formal training modules firmwide, shifting the L&D function into a central driver of audit quality, staff retention, and professional progression.

Serves on HaysMac’s AI Committee, designing frameworks to embed automated technology safely into audit testing while preserving professional skepticism and core audit standards.