Group Chief Executive Officer
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Daren Moore FCCA
Daren Moore joined The TaxAssist Direct Group Board of Directors in February 2018. Daren has spent his whole career in the accountancy practice sector, having worked his way up from accounts trainee to a member of the Management Board of Price Bailey LLP, a Top 25 regional firm, where he has an outstanding track record of achievement. Daren’s roles whilst in practice have been varied and include portfolio development, having twice built-up fee banks with different practices as a client portfolio partner, practice management as senior partner in a sizeable office with 5 fellow partners and 50 staff and business development through his role as head of sales and marketing. His Management Board role also involved a number of strategic planning functions, looking at business growth, acquisition opportunities, investment analysis, team building and incentive initiatives, innovation in technology and cloud services and broader operational planning.
In 2022, Daren became Group Managing Director overseeing the entire Group operation, expansion and development of the network and various client services. In 2023 he was appointed as Group CEO. With a solid knowledge of the accounting and taxation industry, in which he is a well-known and respected figure, Daren brings his 30 years of expertise to his role, to ensure the continued success and growth of the network in the UK and internationally.
Daren's LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.
Group Director
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Sarah Robertson MSc, Dip M, FCIM, FIDM, Chartered Marketer
Sarah has more than 30 years’ experience in the marketing and advertising industry, working with a broad range of national and regional brands, specialising in financial services. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing.
Sarah joined the TaxAssist Accountants Board in September 2004 and her roles have included Business Development Director, Operations Director and UK Managing Director. Sarah has taken overall responsibility for the TaxAssist Academy, marketing and business development strategies, brand development, shopfronts, practice management and best practice for the utilisation of technology.
Sarah has a vast working knowledge of the TaxAssist Accountants network and her current role as Group Director, is to support the profitability, performance and growth of the UK network of franchisees.
Sarah's LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.
Group Director of Franchising
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James Mattam BSc. (Hons)
James has spent his entire full-time career with TaxAssist Accountants since completing his honours degree in Business Information Systems. He has enjoyed a number of different roles within digital development and support initially but moving on to marketing and business development through his career.
Career highlights to date are the roll out of a national network of retailed accounting practices, driving thousands of new business leads to over 400 locations across the UK and supporting other Group companies and franchised businesses in Ireland, Canada, USA and Australia.
James joined the Group Board in 2016 as Group Business Development Director and a new role has now been created to focus purely on growing and supporting the franchised businesses which are a key segment of the TaxAssist Group.
James's LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.
Group Chief Operating Officer
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Mike Melling
Mike Melling was appointed as Group Development Director in February 2022, becoming the first TaxAssist Accountants franchisee to serve as an Executive Director. In January 2023, Mike was appointed to Group Commercial Director, assuming additional responsibility for Group Software, Systems, Operations, Technology, Outsourcing and Onshoring. In January 2024 Mike was appointed as Group Chief Operating Officer.
Mike joined TaxAssist Accountants in 2012, after purchasing a franchise resale covering Harpenden, St Albans and Radlett - the first £1m+ resale for the network. Mike bought a second resale covering the High Wycombe and Beaconsfield area in 2015 and in 2023 acquired a third resale covering Potters Bar, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City. Keen to continue growing the practices, Mike invested in staff, technology and client acquisition marketing, to build his practice to a growing 25-person team becoming one of the largest TaxAssist Accountants practices in the UK.
In May 2024, TaxAssist Direct Acquisitions Limited purchased a 75% stake in his practice valued at £2m which services over 2,000 businesses, Directors and individual clients from seven shops and offices. Mike is now no longer a franchisee, although he continues to oversee the operations of the business through his role as a group executive director.
Prior to joining TaxAssist, Mike enjoyed a 35-year career as a Senior Financial Services Executive in the UK, USA and Asia for American Express, GE Capital and Marsh & McLennan including board-level roles for subsidiary companies.
Mike's role is to support the growth of the TaxAssist Group and complementary services, drive best practices through the deployment of world class systems and capabilities, integrate and grow targeted acquisitions as well as supporting franchisees using the experiences he has built up since joining the Network. Mike is also a director and investor in TaxAssist Financial Services Ltd.
Mike's LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.
Group Chief Financial Officer
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Nic Redfern BSc ACA
Nic Redfern joined The TaxAssist Group in 2024, as Group Chief Financial Officer, to lead the finance team and support the strategic aspirations of the business. Nic trained with Ernst & Young and then moved into industry where he has spent his career working with fast growing businesses in the financial services and digital sectors.
After 4 years with Virgin Money, Nic spent 12 years with Optimise Media Group growing revenues from £2m to £60m and successfully launching the business in 6 countries. He then moved to a fractional CFO role and worked with a number of high growth businesses as an executive director to devise and deliver strategy for the shareholders. This included the scaling and subsequent sale of Notice Media Ltd to Nerdwallet inc. and the post-acquisition strategy as Nerdwallet UK.
Nic's responsibilities vary from Finance, Legal, Compliance and HR as well as broader strategic planning. He is bringing his experience to support the existing team through TaxAssist's next phase of growth.
Nic's LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.
Non-Executive Director
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Phil Sullivan (BSc. Hons), ACIB
During a 26-year career with HSBC Bank plc Phil achieved Executive Management status and undertook roles covering a wide range of disciplines including retail banking, corporate and commercial banking, credit control, strategic planning, human resources and training. Phil established his own business in 2006 providing corporate and commercial advisory services to selected business clients. His main business interests lie in corporate finance and management/leadership theory and practice.
Phil was appointed as an Adviser to the Board in 2007 and became an Executive Director in October 2008. As a full-time Executive Director Phil's main responsibilities included UK and international finance, internal financial control, company secretarial responsibilities and a major input into strategic planning and management of major projects. In 2022 Phil moved to a part-time Non-Executive Director role. As a member of the Group Board, he chairs the Audit Committee, retains an overview of Group finances and supports the Group MD with strategic planning and talent development.
Phil's LinkedIn profile can be viewed here.
