MHA Larking Gowen to expand medical accounting team

Leading regional accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Larking Gowen is to welcome a new partner at their Colchester branch as part of ambitious plans to expand their medical practice in Suffolk and Essex.

Louise Dean, who has been working as a Senior Manager in the firm’s specialist medical team in Colchester, is to oversee expansion of its work in the two counties in her new role as a partner.

Louise became ACCA qualified in 2007 and became part of MHA Larking Gowen when the business merged with Hubbard Lloyd in 2014. She has helped look after the firm’s client list of 600 GP partners and 130 practices, and has built up strong relationships with practice managers and GP partners.

“This is something I have aspired to throughout my career. I had previously worked with Hubbard Lloyd, and their merger with MHA Larking Gowen opened a lot of doors with more opportunities for me to progress. I was able to get advice from senior staff and there was a lot of support to develop,” she said.

“With maternity leave and two young children to look after, I did work part time for a while but none of that stood in the way. Being able to work flexible hours has been great, as it allows me to still do the school run, and I am able to make up the hours in the evenings and at weekends. It’s a perfect balance of being a mum and focusing on my career at the same time,” she said.

As well as looking after her client portfolio, Louise spends time talking to trainee GPs in hospitals, and running training courses for practice managers.

“A lot of our business is word of mouth, so I see my part of my role as helping to build up our reputation. We have some challenging growth targets for the Colchester and Ipswich teams, and I will be spending my time between the two sites,” she said.

MHA Larking Gowen is a member of AISMA (the Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants) and provides a full healthcare accounting service for all medical consultants, locums, salaried GPs, other medical professionals and private health companies.

Services include help with annual accounts and tax returns, personal taxation, pension contributions, partnership changes, capital tax planning, benchmarking, profitability monitoring and administration.

MHA Larking Gowen is also welcoming John Atkins as a new partner.

John works in the Norwich office as part of the Corporate, Audit and Advisory Team. He joined the firm from Grant Thornton in 2016 where he worked as an Audit Manager.

“My long-term ambition was always to be an audit partner in practice. Our clients in the audit and advisory departments are big enough to present technical challenge, but small enough to have personal relationships with. It’s a good work-life balance,” he said.

“When I joined the firm, the key values of Passion for Our People and Client Service shone through. This was recognised when the firm won the Best Employer Award in the Norfolk Business Awards in 2019.

“The partners knew from the outset what my I wanted my contribution to the business to be. I sat down with my partner mentor and together we created a development plan. There is always an open and honest relationship in a very supportive environment,” he said.

John has significant experience in accounting and financial reporting, audit and advisory services, and has mainly focused mainly on the firm’s corporate business.

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