A leading East Midlands auditor is celebrating 18 years at the same firm by being promoted to Director.
Arron Anderson, who started as a trainee in 2007, joins the senior management team at Ashgates at an exciting time in its expansion after it joined the fast-growing accountancy and professional services group, DJH, last year.
The business achieved its best-ever twelve months after it exceeded £7m of annual revenue and aims to continue growing its SME and owner-managed client base with access to additional in-house services, including specialist R&D and capital allowance support, commercial funding, estate planning and HR.
Promotion is a just reward for Arron, who began his journey as a trainee accountant in the accountancy and business services (ABS) department, successfully passing his final ACCA exams in 2013 and moving to Manager three years later.
Prior to becoming a Director, the Derby-born finance expert has been a hugely successful senior manager, working closely with the Directors to strengthen client relationships and support the firm’s expansion in the region.
“This is a very special moment, and I’m thrilled to be joining the senior management team at Ashgates to support our next chapter with DJH,” commented Arron, who is a football coach for his daughter’s football team in his spare time.
“We pride ourselves on being more than just ‘number crunchers’ and instead prefer to look at how we can become an extension to the management teams of our clients – guiding them through an extremely complicated economic landscape and, importantly, helping them to achieve their goals.
He continued: “As Director, I will continue to support the wider ABS team at Ashgates, whilst taking on more responsibility as a key contact for several clients. There is also an emphasis on attracting new clients and enhancing the advice and support we offer through DJH’s specialist service lines, and that’s something I’m keen to contribute to in my new role.”
Founded in 1991, Ashgates is located on Pride Park in Derby and provides expertise, support, and advice to businesses on a local, national and overseas basis.
In addition to a wide range of accountancy and business advisory services, the business also has an independent financial advisory firm and a managed IT provider supporting clients with cyber security in the same office.
“A lot has changed since I joined back in 2007. At that time, we were a team of around 40 people, now we are over 90 and heading towards 100 as we take advantage of being the first East Midlands office in the DJH group,” added Arron.
David Newborough, Director at Ashgates, concluded: “Arron has been a great performer at each level of his progression through our business and fully merits his promotion to Director.
“His expertise in auditing and seeing the ‘bigger picture’ for our clients has been instrumental in us building several strategic relationships with key East Midlands employers and now is the right time to take this to the next level.”
Ashgates is one of fourteen businesses joining DJH since 2021, with the group now employing a multidisciplinary team of over 640 people across the North West, Yorkshire, Midlands and the South East.
Backed by private equity investor Tenzing, the growth plans are expected to continue with the medium-term aim of moving into the UK’s top 20 accountancy firms.
For further information, please visit www.ashgates.co.uk or follow the company across its social media channels.