Alan Woodward Alex Wolfe Allan Page Andrew West Angela Draycott Chris de Luca David Langman Jonathan Appleton Martin Jinks Ruth Pitsillides Sharon Scott Tracey Bettles Wayne Nixon     Alan Woodward BA (Hons), ACIB, CeMAP Alan, originally from Tyneside, had nearly 30 years working in the banking industry, the last 20 of which were in Leicester before bringing that knowledge to oversee our Life & Pensions and Financial Solutions companies. With his banking background, Alan can offer unbiased reviews of existing funding facilities and can specialise in putting packages together for business situations that do not fit within normal banking criteria. Alan has two grown up children and an interest in a variety of sports including skiing. He also enjoys playing golf and claims to get exceptional value for money, seeing virtually every inch of the course in a single round!     Alex Wolfe Alex joined the management team at Somerbys in January 2006. He relocated to the midlands, having spending 17 years working in the profession in Kent. For his sins he primarily assists Martin with audit and accounts clients in addition to overseeing some of our own internal accounting function. Among many interests, Alex enjoys watching Formula One racing, football and in particular, cricket. He assures us that he enjoys eating out and is an active swimmer, though hopefully not in that order.     Allan Page BSc Allan Page is Technical Director of Somerbys IT Limited, having started with the company as "IT Assistant" back in 2000. Competent in all areas of IT, specialising in the installation and configuration of servers and networks with a key emphasis on core Microsoft Products and technologies. Furthermore Allan is instrumental in the ongoing research and testing of the latest products and ideas and with the help of his team has enabled "Somerbys IT Limited" to be awarded "Microsoft Gold Partner" status. Allan, whilst not a young as he once was, still enjoys going out partying at weekends and is a keen motor sport fan; during an extended vacation to Australia and the Far East in 2008 he managed to take in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix.     Andrew West FCA Andrew, along with Martin Jinks, is one of the founders of the Somerbys Group. Having trained with a national firm, he qualified as an accountant in 1976 and then spent several years gaining audit experience with listed companies and generally “moving up the ladder” before relocating back to Leicestershire as a partner in a local firm. Andrew has long since lost the passion for reviewing audit files and now thrives in a boardroom environment, looking for ways in which he can move a business forward. Outside of work he has a passion for fine food and wines and is a keen supporter of countryside issues.     Angela Draycott FMAAT, ATT Angela is probably the longest serving person in the team having worked for Somerbys (and its predecessor firms) for nearly 30 years. Originally working and studying accounts she sidetracked part way through her career and now heads up our taxation department. Angela, who was also part of the management team that set up Somerbys, is now responsible for a range of taxation services including Income Tax Self Assessment, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance tax. Socially she is an outdoor person and animal lover who particularly enjoys horse riding. We understand however that show jumping off the horse is definitely her speciality!     Chris de Luca BSc Born and raised in London, Chris decided on a university education in Leicester, and never found his way back home! His initial career path saw him as an upper school teacher before spending the last 20+ years in the finance industry. Firstly, he was with a large, tied brokerage before coming fully independent in 1996. Chris likes a holistic planning approach with particular emphasis on estate and wealth retention planning. When not working, he spends a huge amount of time involved with local rugby club, Oadby Wyggestonians. Despite being well into his 2nd half century, Chris still plays on a regular basis – he really is a sad, old hooker.     David Langman FCA David, a true Leicester lad, qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1969 with one of the larger, local independent firms. Having tried his hand in industry as a Finance Director of a printing firm he then spent three years lecturing in accountancy whilst he developed his own practice which he subsequently ran for over 25 years; David merged this business into Somerbys in May 2009. With two grown up Children, he enjoys following Leicester Tigers with his son, travelling with his wife and socialising with family and friends.     Jonathan Appleton B Eng (Hons) Jonathan is Managing Director of our IT firm, Somerbys IT Ltd, and together with Allan Page has significantly grown the company and it’s workforce. From being instrumental in converting the former car showrooms and workshop into our own hi tech 40 user office, Jonathan and his team now specialise in IT support, installation and project managing for a range of small and large corporate businesses throughout the UK and Europe. In his spare time, Jonathan is a keen golfer and (so he tells us) a superb healthy cook – someone who definitely likes his greens!     Martin Jinks FCA Martin, along with Andrew West, is one of the founders of the Somerbys Group. Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant with another local firm in 1986 he then spent the next seven years living and working in Bermuda; initially on an auditing contract with a multi-national firm and then in industry as Financial Director. In 1993 he returned to the UK and in 1995 joined Andrew West in business. Martin, who is married with two teenage children, spends too much of his spare time participating in and watching a variety of sporting activities, his main passion being Rugby Union. He is also known for teasing the female members of his staff and was once heard to refuse an invitation to the pub!     Ruth Pitsillides MLIA (dip), CeMAP Ruth is an Independent Financial Adviser who, through over 25 years experience, conducts a variety of personal financial planning covering life assurance, asset protection, key man insurance, personal pensions, occupational pensions in addition to all kinds of investments and bonds. She also works very closely with clients’ own legal advisers in setting up trusts to mitigate Inheritance Tax. Despite being a born and raised Leicester girl, Ruth acquired her Greek surname by marriage and admits to being our very own Shirley Valentine!     Sharon Scott FCA After obtaining a Master's degree in modern languages at Oxford University, Sharon trained and qualified in the Birmingham office of a national firm of Chartered Accountants. In 1989 she moved back to her native Leicestershire and spent the next 20 years with a large independent firm, reaching the position of Partner. Sharon joined the board of Directors of Somerbys in July 2009 and is in charge of our audit compliance work and also specialises in Solicitors and Charities. She is married and, being free of children, spends her spare time walking and travelling with her husband.     Tracey Bettles MAAT, BSc (Hons) Tracey is one of our audit and accounts managers, working primarily along side Andrew West. She joined us in spring 2004 having had a senior role within another firm based in Nottingham. Tracey is very proficient with SAGE and coordinates the installing and training of their products for our clients. Outside of work, Tracey is a keen supporter of Leicester Tigers and travels to virtually all home and away games, even to unpronounceable parts of Europe. During the rugby close season, Tracey spends a lot of her time horse riding.     Wayne Nixon FLC, CeMAP Wayne joined Somerby Financial Solutions having spent the best part of the previous 20 years in the finance industry. He specialises in sourcing finance for corporate asset acquisitions, sales ledger cash flow and supporting management buy ins and buy outs. Wayne was born in Derbyshire, grew up in Nottinghamshire and so now has a wide range of contacts throughout the East Midlands. Regrettably, this has left him as an ardent Nottingham Forest fan – we are actively seeking a cure! When not working for us, Wayne spends his weekends either playing golf or touring the country’s football grounds working for TV broadcasters. He states that he is married with two teenage daughters but we are not sure when he could possibly find the time to see them.