Qualified Accountant with 25 years experience purchases his own TaxAssist Franchise

Martin Thomas, Franchisee for TaxAssist Accountants in Victoria Central London finally purchased his own business after 25 years of working for others. Martin's career was focused around him looking after the finance in the marketing services industry and always harboured ambitions of owning his very own business.

Martin had vast experience in working for big players within the PR and marketing services industry that included Weber Shandwick and Burson Marsteller. Martin actually spent a number of years overseas with two years spent in Frankfurt, four years in Hong Kong and finally three years in New York. Martin had built up a library of experiences and knowledge during this period, and he was now in a position where he was seeking to use his skill set in running his very own franchised business.

Martin undertook thorough franchise research and like any good accountant, analysed all of the options available and eventually, Martin, a qualified chartered accountant, opted to enter into a franchise partnership with award winning TaxAssist accountants duo Vince Dalaimo and Debbie Corbett.

Martin talks us through the early stages of the partnership:

“When I made the big decision to step out by myself, the initial and obvious route was to become a sole practitioner,” said Martin. “But starting up a new business in central London can be paved with pitfalls, so I started looking into different options.

“The TaxAssist Accountants franchise brand offered a much stronger and more immediate profile than M. Thomas FCA, in terms of attracting small businesses and individuals needing Accounts and Tax Returns, which is my target market. Also the help and advice TaxAssist Accountants Support Centre could offer me in terms of tax knowledge and marketing was indispensable.

“The partnership with Vince and Debbie came out of initial discussions with the national network. Both Vince and Debbie already have a proven track record of success of running TaxAssist franchise shops in Central London and their extensive experience and strong credentials with the banks for financing and lending to TaxAssist franchise operations was critical in helping raise finance for the new shop in Victoria.

“I’ve now been running the TaxAssist Accountants franchise shop in Victoria for 3 and a half years and have built a fee bank of £430,000 and a client base of 469 local businesses and individuals needing tax advice. As a small business myself I love helping other local businessmen and women to grow their businesses by allowing them to focus on what they’re good at (running their business!) and explaining tax and accounting issues in simple, plain language in a friendly and approachable style. I have received 59 qualified leads in the last 12 months.

“The network support is exceptional. There are 189 like-minded franchisees who share best practice and a national support centre, which holds regular regional meetings and innovation focus groups and provides training and helpdesk support across technical issues on accounting, tax, software and human resources and other essential areas such as marketing, PR and social media.

“The beauty of TaxAssist Accountants franchise for me, is in the flexibility it provides. There’s still a huge growth potential here and I might open another shop in the next few years, or on the other hand do fewer hours and take lots of holiday. Who knows?!”