We have been working with Armstrong Watson as our auditors for several years now. What has really impressed us has been their ability to hit our deadlines and timetable even when team members change from year to year. They have really made sure that where continuity of team is impacted that this doesn’t disrupt our needs. This has given us reassurance and trust in them to positively impact our governance cycle.
Jo Powell, Finance Director, Shared Interest
Having recently moved back to Cumbria from Glasgow, we wanted a local financial adviser. After researching and receiving recommendations from our neighbours, we approached Steve at Armstrong Watson. Despite his busy schedule, Steve got back to us the same day and arranged a meeting.
Steve welcomed us to the beautiful new offices at Rosehill in Carlisle. He took the time to understand our needs and objectives, answering all our questions. We learned more in our first meeting with Steve than we had with our previous adviser.
Steve carefully considered our entire financial picture, including aspects we hadn’t previously thought about, and presented a solution that perfectly met our objectives. We highly recommend Steve and Armstrong Watson to anyone looking for a new financial adviser.
Mr and Mrs Carnegie
As the IT Manager at Facepunch Studios, I’m pleased to share our experience working with Armstrong Watson and their Cyber Security Partner. Over the past 8 months, we’ve undertaken a thorough review of our Cyber Security policies to address the ever-changing threats that pose significant risks to our UK and global operations.
Cyber security has become a key part of our operational due diligence, ensuring our systems are strong and compliant with industry standards. The tailored solutions have enabled us to identify and mitigate potential risks effectively, safeguarding our global digital assets. By leveraging their expertise, we’ve strengthened our defences, ensuring business continuity and protecting our reputation in the international market.
With their support and guidance they identified specific vulnerabilities within our systems and highlighted areas for improvement, such as enhancing security configurations and protecting critical digital assets. This proactive approach has allowed us to address these challenges and reinforce our operational defences against future threats.
With their tailored tools and strategies, Armstrong Watson and their Cyber Security Partner have provided us with the means to secure our critical data and maintain compliance with industry best practices. These measures have greatly improved the resilience of our operations, ensuring we remain protected in the face of evolving cyber risks.
Our partnership with Armstrong Watson demonstrates their commitment to delivering professional services that meet the unique needs of businesses like ours. Their support has given us the confidence to focus on our core work, knowing our cyber security is in expert hands.
We look forward to continuing this collaboration and ensuring our success in tackling future cyber challenges.
Ben Nicholls
IT Manager
Facepunch Studios
Waterfront Fluid Controls engaged with Armstrong Watson to assist in an acquisition deal with Jash Engineering Ltd. This was a complex deal due to the new majority shareholder being based and registered in India. Not only did this make things slightly more complex we added into the mix an 80% shareholding and not a full 100% take over.
Due diligence processes were undertaken and with the guidance of Ellis Kerton in particular we successfully gained the approval of the auditor and legal teams. Ellis worked very closely with our accountant here in WFC and with a lot of hard work and long hours we met our timescale targets to everyone’s satisfaction.
Liz Niven, Director of Operations, Waterfront Fluid Controls Ltd
I would like to share some positive feedback about your payroll services, particularly Georgie. Georgie has been fantastic during the onboarding process and what we thought might be complicated, with the help and support of Georgie, who responded quickly at all times, offering helpful advice and ideas has resulted in making our processes so much more efficient and error free first time.
OES Group Ltd
One of the challenges in a law firm is getting everyone to understand the business and approach things from a commercial perspective. Lawyers are focussed (rightly so) on client service and often don’t appreciate the value of the support they provide. The training we had with Armstrong Watson really helped us to focus the team’s minds on the value they were creating and as a result we now have an effective pricing policy that provides clients with choice and certainty whilst recognising the value that we create through our services. The training was delivered in a way that everyone understood and could relate to by Andy who is a true expert in professional services management and finance. We all came away feeling like we’d had a morning well spent.
Gill Hunter, Managing Partner, Square One Law
As a well established and profitable electronic components manufacturer based in the North East , the shareholders had reached a stage in life when it was apparent a company sale was required. They approached David Wilson who was very responsive in finding potential buyers. Agreement with the first potential buyer chosen did not progress due to the final terms of their offer being insufficient. The second buyer, a private equity company, had a prolonged due diligence process which required considerable tenacity and astute negotiation to navigate. David and his team were admirable throughout and successfully concluded the sale.
Tony Hemming, Chairman (until May 2024), Isocom Components 2004 Ltd
The session was really useful and thought provoking. Some courses simply flag issues to us and tell us what we should avoid doing. Andy's approach means not only were we made aware of potential pitfalls with things such as billing and fee quoting but he gave us solid guidance on what we can do to not only avoid the pitfalls but to turn those potential pitfalls into positive experiences for us and the clients.
Andy's knowledge and delivery inspires confidence in his recommendations.
Steve Redmond, Gateley plc
Brampton Rural Housing Society (BRHS) is a small charitable housing association, but plays an important role in the community of Brampton and its surrounding villages. BRHS is managed by a Members Board represented by a range of professional disciplines, including Accountancy, Architecture, Banking, and Housing, supported by key staff with appropriate experience in the field of housing, finance and administration.
The Board and its staff seek to comply with the highest standards of governance and accountability to its tenants, contractors, regulators, and the community it serves. And most importantly the Board wants the discharge of its functions and services to be challenged and judged externally and independently against those high standards.
This has been achieved by the appointment of the premier regional accounting and audit practice, Armstrong Watson, as it auditors, for a period extending beyond the 30 years involvement of the writer. Throughout that period Armstrong Watson has brought genuine independence, rigour, professionalism and wise advice to the audit of the Society’s arrangements and its reporting to the Board and its membership at the AGM. Not just in respect of the statutory accounts, but also in respect of its management and compliance arrangements.
Principals and lead audit staff are rotated at appropriate intervals and there is a strong liaison at Director level between the Practice and the Society, with informed meetings preceding the audit and after its conclusion. The field work supporting the audit is carried out on site to a pre-agreed timetable with a prior and full understanding of the documentation required to be made available and which is prepared for inspection by the Society staff in advance of the audit.
As one who has been a Board member since 1989 and voluntary treasurer of BRHS from 1995 to 2017, I would have no hesitation in commending Armstrong Watson to any prospective client whose aspirations, ideals and principles on behalf of the community which it serves, are similar to those which the Society has adopted and benefited from over many years.
Douglas Thomas, Brampton Rural Housing Society
The service provided by Armstrong Watson, and in particular the support and advice from Karen, Lauren and their colleagues to support us through this process has been immensely helpful.
Their knowledge of charity sector financial regulations and reporting requirements, and the professional way in which they approached this important work made the whole process much less challenging for us than we anticipated. I would, without reservation, endorse and recommend your services.
Tynedale Hospice at Home