North West Christmas convo: Anna Bell of ICS

Christmas is almost upon us and it’s been a well and truly exciting year for the North West business community.

With many of the region’s businesspeople no doubt looking forward to grabbing a glass of wine and putting their feet up, allowing themselves to slip into a post-roast dinner snooze while pretending to listen to the kids, at Bdaily we thought we’d bring you closer to the personalities behind some of the North West’s most exciting enterprises.

Today’s festive catchup is with Anna Bell, brand and marketing manager at Lancaster-based contractor accountancy firm ICS.

What did your business achieve in 2015?

We’ve increased our headcount in the office by 30% including the appointments of a head of finance and head of sales. We’ve put a new structure in place for our Limited Company clients giving them each a dedicated client account manager who is a qualified or training accountant.

What were some of the bigger challenges you faced this year?

There are always challenges within our marketplace but the biggest this year was the removal of tax relief on travel and subsistence expenses which was announced on December 9. Whilst this won’t take effect until April 2016, we will start planning and preparing for it now.

Does your business have anything exciting planned for 2016?

We are very excited to launch our intranet in early 2016 and we will also be adding to our product portfolio, so it will be a busy 2016!

Do you find any other North West businesses or their owners inspiring? If so, who?

We’ve been working with SearchQuest since 2013, they’re also a Lancaster-based business and it has been great to see them flourish and expand their offering. We’ve also had a sneak peek at the plans for their new building which looks fantastic!

Give us one tip for a budding entrepreneur.

Don’t underestimate the value of having a mentor to learn from and help guide you.

Where’s your favourite village/town/city in the North West, besides where you live?

I have many fond memories of weekends with my young family in Keswick. It was devastating to see the effect of the recent floods there and we hope to go up over Christmas to support them in their recovery.

What would be your dream job?

Working in marketing is my dream job. It is so important to do something you are passionate about, whatever that may be.

Do you have a favourite Christmas song?

Fairytale of New York by The Pogues

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