Issue 55 | Page 15

Think Kudos directors Jonathan Tait ( left ) and Matthew McConnell and have grown their Newton Aycliffe-based team to 44 .

KUDOS TO GROWTH

Aycliffe-based accountancy group expands during Covid
WORDS : MARTIN WALKER PICTURE : CHRIS BOOTH

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team of North-East accountants has grown its team and expanded with a second office after seeing continued growth .
Newton Aycliffe-based Think Kudos – formerly known as Certax Durham – has grown its team to 44 from 30 in the last two years .
The firm has also opened a second 2,200 sq ft office in Sherburn Hill , Durham , which houses 17 of its employees .
And Kudos ’ client base has further increased , with 1,600 customers from up and down the UK now on the company ’ s books .
Kudos decided to rebrand from Certax Durham , which was a local franchise of a national chain , to give them more freedom to expand in to other areas of finance as an independent business .
The Think Kudos group is now made up of nine brands which covers accounting , commercial finance , wealth management and insurance , as well as an asset and fleet division .
It ’ s the vision of partners Matthew McConnell and Jonathan Tait , who are working towards becoming a chartered accountancy .
“ We ’ ve seen a 25 % year-on-year growth since we started out in 2013 ,” said Jonathan .
“ The Certax franchise worked for us in establishing ourselves and growing our client base , but running our own firm gives us more freedom .
“ We set out plans to take the business to another level before Covid , and the pandemic slowed that process down , but we eventually launched the new brand in May 2021 .”
Kudos has recruited a number of apprentices over the years but has more recently taken on experienced professionals in finance which has enabled further growth .
Matthew said : “ We recruited a large number of young people a few years ago and that worked for us , many of them are still with us .
“ But by bringing in specific areas of financial expertise into the business , that has really helped us push on .
“ We ’ re also looking to invest in new technology to improve our efficiencies , which will improve our service to customers and make sure we make the most of the tech that ’ s out there .
“ We ’ re confident about the future and we ’ re aiming for more growth in the coming years .”
During Covid , Kudos paid for two of their employees to look after furlough claims for 650 of their clients over an 18-month period .
“ We did that to help our clients get through it ,” added Jonathan .
“ It was a difficult time for many of our clients and we saw it as a time to step up and help them .
“ It was the right thing to do and we ’ re sure that was appreciated by our clients .”
The Kudos Accountants arm of the group helps businesses with all elements of finance , from audits , self assessment tax , payroll and VAT returns , accounts for sole traders , partnerships and limited companies , personal and business taxation planning , company formation and corporation tax compliance and planning .
Kudos also uses and offers free training in the Xero online accounting system and Receipt Bank , which saves businesses precious time by providing a quick and easyto-use online accounting system .
Think Kudos is based at Units 8 / 9 Parsons Court , Welbury Way , Aycliffe Business Park . You can contact them on 01325 315666 , email info @ think-kudos . com or go to www . think-kudos . com .
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 15