- A year of 2 Monarchs, 3 Prime Ministers, 4 Chancellors and 4 Watford managers. It certainly was a year of turbulence and change. Losing the Queen and much attention falling on the Royal Family made me think about those close, and not so close, relationships and how families often work together to earn a living, build household wealth, and leave a legacy
Mostons is a family business. Created in 2009, amidst the financial turmoil of banks closing and people queuing to withdraw their savings, husband & wife, Paul Moston & Ellen Ridley decided to set up an accountancy practice in Winchmore Hill, with their close friend and long-time colleague Maria Ellerbeck.
13 years later we are a team of 11 having been joined by Ellen’s sister Alison, our wonderful practice manager. Mother & daughter, Daisy & Maria, Flora, William, and our part-time consultant Derek complete the team in N21. Plus, Karley & Kelvin who are based at our Norwich office.
Looking to the future, we are all faced with uncertainty. Escalating prices of almost every item in the shopping basket, mortgage rates and rents on the rise, and a fear of putting on the heating this winter. We are acutely aware of how tough things are and how worrying this can be.
Throughout our various careers at Mostons the team have loved working with our wonderful clients, most of whom are working in, or running, a family business. Our focus is always on how we look after our clients, making sure that they can understand the weird and absurd chopping and changing of taxes and business legislation. We will always look to solve those problems that have a solution within our field. We cannot fix the economy sadly, but we will work tirelessly to ensure our clients navigate these turbulent waters. We hope to provide reassurance at times like these.
The last few years have been challenging and will continue to be so into 2023. The UK has inflicted upon itself a good proportion of these changes and there is more to come. Whilst the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have created worldwide turbulence, in the UK, political madness has reigned. Leaving all of us wondering what’s next. Fingers crossed for some stability in 2023.
Future challenges for the self-employed and landlords, with the promised introduction of making tax digital (MTD) in April 2024, we will be working hard to deal with variations to how clients keep records of income and expenditure and then supporting them through the transition from annual to quarterly returns. It is never easy to adapt to such drastic changes but we, at Mostons, will take it in our stride and continue to deliver a great service at the highest level.
Throughout the last year my personal goal has been to create Mostons Probate & Estate Administration, a new arm to Mostons business services range. This is a longer-term plan in order that I can assist my clients through those difficult conversations around making a will, inheritance tax, estate management during life, ensuring that family wealth is maximised and kept in the hands of the next generations and of course dealing with the requirements of filing for probate and estate administration and distribution post death.
Having qualified to provide non-contentious, restricted legal services, in addition to the normal general accounting services, I believe that Mostons is well placed to support clients through every stage.
If you are worried about what the future may hold for you and your loved ones, through retirement and beyond, then Mostons P&E is here to listen to your concerns and to guide you. At Mostons we always offer an initial, free, 30-minute consultation to N21 readers who mention this publication.
We would also love to hear from business owners who would like to experience the family focused approach to accounting. Some of the services we offer include:
- Accounts for sole trader and limited companies
- Tax Returns, personal and business
- HMRC enquiries
- Payroll
- Bookkeeping
- Construction Industry Scheme support & compliance
- Company formation and start up planning
- Interim management accounts
- Bespoke business plans and cashflow
- Business Valuations
As always, thank you to my team for their extraordinary efforts in 2022. I hope they, and all the N21 Directory readers have a wonderful Christmas and the very best 2023 possible. Finally, I wish Slaven Bilić all the very best, and hope he is still in place at Watford when this article goes to print.