Private individual or trust

Deborah is an extremely knowledgeable accountant, having joined Wenn Townsend in 1980 and become Partner in 1989. She particularly loves working with schools, colleges and university partnerships, and with families in the agricultural world or with landed estates, getting hands-on with the practical problems they face. Deborah recently set up and ran an estate management reporting system to control a development/farming/property letting/woodland/leisure business; while in another case she rationalised monthly systems for a university partnership including payroll, pensions, budget preparation and reporting to the Charity Commission. Outside of work Deborah enjoys skiing, walking and cottage gardening.

An outstanding accountant, Lee came aboard with Wenn Townsend in 2004 and swiftly made Partner in 2005. His real enthusiasms lie in holistic tax planning for families and private individuals, corporate tax work in connection with business sales and purchases, and share and business valuations. In one such case he advised on a share buy-back within a corporate group to allow the withdrawal of the controlling persons from the group business operations, addressing issues caused by the group holding insufficient distributable reserves. Outside work Lee enjoys travelling Europe, listening to music (and attempting to play guitar), cinema and theatre-going, and is an avid reader.

Matthew is our trusted, unflappable Trusts and Estates Tax Manager, ably assisting trustees, personal representatives, high-net-worth individuals and self-employed individuals with tax compliance and tax planning in the areas of trusts, deceased estates, capital taxation, personal taxation and business taxation. He also prepares accounts for trusts and deceased estates. He recently advised the personal representatives of a deceased estate on how they could reduce their rate of Inheritance Tax from 40% to 36% by arranging for the beneficiaries to sign a deed of variation - the Inheritance Tax liability was thus reduced by over £80,000. Outside of work Matthew enjoys cinema, sport (as a long-suffering supporter of Hull City AFC), art and music.

Helen has been our expert Private Client Tax Manager since 2008, specialising in personal taxation, capital taxation, residence and domicile issues, some foreign tax issues, FATCA and offshore disclosures, and VAT matters inside and outside the UK. She recently advised an Italian client wanting to invest in UK property, advising where his tax liability would be and the ramifications of the Double Tax Convention. She has also helped clients who have been approached by HMRC about unreported foreign income. Outside of work Helen loves all things history, art, detective stories and travel.

Charles Gurr has been our resident corporation tax expert since 2017, deeply knowledgeable in areas including corporation tax, capital allowance claims, R&D claims, Creative Industry Tax Reliefs, and company valuations. He recently helped with the valuation of an owner-managed company with a view to employee share ownership, and in another area assisted a charity client in making claims under both Theatre Tax Relief and Museums and Galleries Exhibitions Tax Relief schemes. When he isn’t in the office Charles enjoys reading, Lego, board games and films, and is a passionate OUFC season ticket holder.

Andrew has been a highly trusted and dependable part of Wenn Townsend since 1988, managing over 160 client payrolls from 1 to 500 plus employees. He takes great pride in providing clients with everything from full bureau service to ad hoc advice on benefits-in-kind, year-end procedures and HMRC compliance visits. His specialist expertise covers final salary pension schemes and a variety of auto-enrolment schemes. He is vastly experienced in assisting clients with all staff pay issues including tax-efficient remuneration packages and termination payments, and he also enjoys looking after a varied portfolio of private tax clients. Andrew also acts as Trustee, Executor and Power of Attorney to a number of our clients. Outside of work Andrew can be found either in the Frewen Club where he is an active member and assistant Treasurer, or at his cottage in North Norfolk.

Jane arrived at Wenn Townsend in 2009 as one of our indispensable managers and has since progressed to the position of Director of Accounting. Jane heads our accounts department, managing her accounting and outsourcing clients, leading the training of our associates, and she particularly enjoys working on Xero, Sage and Quickbooks Online along with other more bespoke software. With a background in audit she utilises her expert attention to detail within her role, she recently reviewed consolidated accounts under IFRS for a parent audit of a multinational group and its significant industrial subsidiary, suggesting detailed systems improvements. Outside work, Jane enjoys cycling and hiking, landscape watercolour painting and crafts, and is treasurer of her children’s school PTA.

Kathryn joined us in 2022 as our Director of Advisory Services. Having qualified in 1999 Kathryn has had an extensive career working within both practice and industry, in particular she has spent the past five years working in-house within a college of the University of Oxford. Prior to this she spent over 21 years working in accountancy practice across a range of different roles, providing a breadth of knowledge and experience to facilitate working with clients in a practical, helpful and empathetic way. Her current role allows her to support her clients across a broad spectrum of sectors, including University of Oxford colleges, on a range of systems, process and reporting projects. Her recent specialisms are the charity and education sectors and she particularly enjoys working with any clients where there is an opportunity to add value and problem-solve. In her spare time Kathryn enjoys spending time outdoors, including hiking and running.