Over 1,200 attendees flock to Accountex Summit North
Manchester’s exclusive one-day accounting conference just got bigger, with 10% increase in attendance for 2019
The second edition of Accountex Summit North – an exclusive one-day accounting conference and exhibition – was on record-breaking form earlier this month, with over 1,200 attending the event at Manchester Central on Tuesday 10 September.
That was 10% up on last year’s launch event – and it came just four months after the flagship Accountex event in London attracted a huge 9,000 attendees.
The list of visitors included top accountants, finance directors, accounts managers, tax professionals, heads of IT, bookkeepers, and sole practitioners (working in practice, industry, and the public sector) from leading firms, businesses and institutions.
Among them were representatives from organisations as diverse as Procter & Gamble, Mars UK, Siemens UK, FirstGroup, HMRC, Lush Cosmetics, BNY Mellon, WOCO, Euro Garages, Nottingham University, Royal Museums Greenwich, North Wales Wildlife Trust, Beauty Bay, and more. Plus top accountancy firms including PwC, Grant Thornton, BDO, Saffery Champness, Haines Watts, Crowe UK, UHY Hacker Young, TaxAssist Accountants, Armstrong Watson, MHA Moore and Smalley, Cowgills, Beever and Struthers, Mitchell Charlesworth, Garbutt & Elliott, Bennett Brooks, Bulley Davey, and PM+M.
They came to discover the best new tech, products, services, solutions, and innovations from more than 80 leading exhibitors, and to access more than 18 hours of free seminar content delivered by a line-up of 24 expert speakers.
Glowing testimonials have been coming in thick and fast. Excellent, exciting, well organised, fun, fantastic, informative, interesting, relevant, varied, and superb are just some of the words that attendees have used to describe the show so far.
Summing up his experience at Accountex Summit North, Dean McMullan, partner at Allens Chartered Accountants described it as “a jam-packed day of accounting software and technology with an exciting choice of speakers.”
“An extremely good use of a day – informative, relevant and also an eye-opener to the technology available today,” agrees Hugh Tracy-Forster, managing director at T4 Consulting.
“Accountex Summit North 2019 was a great place to find new software suppliers, meet my LinkedIn contacts for the first time and to attend some useful seminars,” says Lorraine Ellison, owner of Simply Additions. “The most useful element was hearing about what is coming next, which allows me to think about the impact on my business, and how it will affect my clients. It feels good to be ahead of the game!”
“It was great to hear from HMRC on their implementation and plans for new tax regimes and put faces to the support helplines of our existing software providers,” says Sharon Turner, chartered accountant at Bryan Redhead & Co.
“A perfect platform to learn, great opportunity to make professional connections and gain 8 CPD hours. A must-attend event to know the latest in the world of accountancy and finance,” says Prav Tyagi, principal accountant at TaxAssist Accountants Manchester South.
Keynote highlights
From standing room only sessions and packed panel discussions, to big-name Keynotes and topical seminars, Accountex Summit North’s three theatres were a hive of activity throughout.
Gordon Gilchrist, author and speaker at 2020 Innovation, kicked off the day with an industry update, before BBC Broadcaster Joe Lynam took to the stage to deliver his insightful Keynote talk on Brexit and the current state of the UK economy. In a packed Theatre 3, HMRC’s Rebecca Hutton gave an up-to-the-minute update on Making Tax Digital, while in Theatre 2 Taxwise presenter Amanda Chadwick tackled mental health in the workplace, and FreeAgent’s Nick Longden talked AI and open banking to an audience spilling into the aisles in Theatre 1.
This year’s line-up also featured sessions from industry experts including: Verna Gellvear (HMRC), Glen Foster (Xero), Philippa Hume (Intuit QuickBooks), Chris Downing (Sage), Andrew Hubbard (Taxation Magazine), Amanda C. Watts (TwentyTwo Agency), Matt Garman (SalesEnabla), Alastair Barlow (flinder), Des O’Neill (OmniPro Group), Richard Sergeant (Principle Point), Lucy Whittington (Brilliant Business Things), Josh Riffe (FUNancial Services), Alan Woods (Woods Squared), Janice B. Gordon (Scale Your Sales), Nick Elston, Brian Coventry (Envision), Martin Bissett (USP), Carl Reader (Small Business Champion), and Jo Edwards (JE Consulting).
“We launched the show last year to bring the best of Accountex to accountancy professionals in the North – and we’ve been overwhelmed by the level of enthusiasm the industry has shown,” says event director Zoe Lacey-Cooper.
“We’re thrilled to have notched things up for our second year with an amazing 10% increase in attendees and delighted that the brand continues to go from strength to strength. Accountex is the best platform for bringing the industry together and the sense of one community uniting to network, support, share, and learn from each other at both our Manchester and London events is inspiring.”
She continues: “A huge thanks, as always, to all of our exhibitors, visitors, speakers and partners for their phenomenal support, we couldn’t create these fantastic events without you. See you at Accountex 2020!”
Save the date for Accountex 2020
The flagship Accountex event will return to ExCeL London on 13-14 May 2020. To register your interest in attending or for further information, please visit www.accountex.co.uk/london.
The next edition of Accountex Summit North will take place at Manchester Central on 21 September 2021. To register your interest in attending or for further information, please visit www.accountex.co.uk/summitnorth.
In Pictures: Accountex Summit North 2019
Accountex Summit North – an exclusive one-day accounting conference and exhibition – took place earlier this month on Tuesday 10 September at Manchester Central. Here's some of the highlights from this year’s show…
The next edition of Accountex takes place at ExCeL London on 13-14 May 2020. For more information and to register for a free trade ticket to attend please visit www.accountex.co.uk/london.
Video highlights from Accountex Summit North 2019
More than a thousand accountancy and finance professionals from across the UK flocked to Manchester Central last week on Tuesday 10 September for Accountex Summit North – an exclusive one-day accounting conference and exhibition. In case you missed it – or to recap – here’s some video highlights from this year’s show…
The next edition of Accountex takes place at ExCeL London on 13-14 May 2020. For more information and to register for a free trade ticket to attend please visit www.accountex.co.uk/london.
Accountex Summit North 2019 opens at Manchester Central on Tuesday 10 September
More than a thousand accountancy and finance professionals from across the UK will be heading to Manchester on Tuesday 10 September for Accountex Summit North – an exclusive one-day accounting conference and exhibition.
Doors open at 8.30am at Manchester Central with around 1,300 attendees expected. Delegates from many of the UK’s top accountancy firms, including Grant Thornton, BDO, Smith & Williamson, Saffery Champness, Haines Watts, Crowe UK, UHY Hacker Young, TaxAssist Accountants, Armstrong Watson, MHA Moore and Smalley, Cowgills, Beever and Struthers, Quantuma, Mitchell Charlesworth, Garbutt & Elliott, Bennett Brooks, Bulley Davey, PM+M, Ellacotts, and DSG Chartered Accountants, are among those preparing to attend.
Also on the visitor list are finance professionals from well-known businesses and institutions, including Procter & Gamble, Mars UK, Siemens UK, FirstGroup, HMRC, Co-op, Lush Cosmetics, BNY Mellon, WOCO, BOUYGUES, Emerald Publishing, Euro Garages, Nottingham University, Royal Museums Greenwich, Hitachi Capital, University of Liverpool, North Wales Wildlife Trust, Northumbria University, Beauty Bay, and SeatGeek.
Event director Zoe Lacey-Cooper says: “In one day, our delegates will enjoy a full line-up of CPD-accredited Keynotes, seminars, and panel sessions delivered by industry experts. They’ll take away real-time insights, tools and solutions, which will help them to continue to provide the best all-round accountancy service possible.”
80+ industry-leading exhibitors
The exhibitor line-up for 2019 features more than 80 top industry suppliers, including FreeAgent, Intuit QuickBooks, IRIS, Sage, Wolters Kluwer, Xero, HMRC, Tolley, Fujitsu, Silverfin, Receipt Bank, FUTRLI, DREAM AUDIT a Gest On Line Solution, Riverdale Insurance, SmartVault, AccessPay, GoCardless, MyWorkpapers, Nomisma, Qubic Tax, Senta, RollPay, ProsperChain, AutoEntry, PayFit, IWOCA, Soldo, Docusoft, and Arthur Online. They’ll be demonstrating and displaying the latest and most innovative accounting tools, tech, services, and solutions.
To view the full exhibitor list, please visit www.accountex.co.uk/summitnorth/exhibitor-list.
18+ hours of speaker sessions in three theatres
The conference will feature 24 sessions in three dedicated theatres, covering topics as diverse as AI, anxiety, Brexit, MTD, Open Banking, digital disruption, mental health, and more.
Speaker highlights include BBC broadcaster Joe Lynam, Rebecca Hutton (HMRC), Verna Gellvear (HMRC), Glen Foster (Xero), Philippa Hume (Intuit QuickBooks), Chris Downing (Sage), Nick Longden (FreeAgent), Andrew Hubbard (Taxation Magazine), Amanda Chadwick (Croner/Taxwise), Amanda C. Watts (TwentyTwo Agency), Gordon Gilchrist (2020 Innovation Training), Matt Garman (SalesEnabla), Des O’Neill (OmniPro Group), Lucy Whittington (Brilliant Business Things), Alan Woods (Woods Squared), Janice B. Gordon (Scale Your Sales), and Jo Edwards (JE Consulting).
“Accountex Summit North is critical to the accountancy industry because opportunities are lost when accountants do not get out from behind their desk. This is an opportunity to get out there, meet the best of the best, hear the latest insights, see different ways of doing things, mingle with the people on the same journey as you and be open to the possibilities,” says Des O’Neill, managing director of OmniPro Group.
“In these uncertain times it’s vital to have a forum for discussion and presentation of new ideas, thinking about a prosperous future and how to bring it about. There will always be a North/South divide, but Accountex Summit North helps to show that business in the North is of enormous value and is equal to, not less important than the South,” says Matt Garman, CEO and founder of SalesEnabla.
“Accountex Summit North is, for me, the must attend event in the industry, it’s a great chance to meet up with current suppliers, peers in the industry, influencers in the industry and learn best practice, along with more than a few shortcuts to success,” says Alan Woods, founder of Woods Squared.
The full programme is available to view at www.accountex.co.uk/summitnorth/conference-programme.
A selection of speaker Q&As are available at www.accountex.co.uk/summitnorth/category/speaker-qa.
Accountex Summit North is open at Manchester Central from 8.30am to 5pm on Tuesday 10 September. All delegate places are now fully booked and the event has sold out of all available exhibition space.
For further information, please visit www.accountex.co.uk/summitnorth.
Revealed: Six trends shaping accountancy in 2019
With the fast-pace of changes being wrought by technology and politics in 2019, future-proofing is increasingly difficult for businesses and accountants. To help you keep at the forefront of this fast-paced profession, we spoke to six experts to get their take on the key trends shaping the accounting industry in 2019:
Janice B Gordon, The Key Account Strategist at Scale You Sales:
"Millennials, who will make-up 50% of the workforce by 2020, are shaping the way businesses communicate and transact. Millennials have specific specifications and demand hands-on support.
Accountants must speak the language to their changing client base and adapt to becoming tech-savvy and tech enabled. Accountants must stay ahead of these business trends to remain relevant to serve their changing client needs and preferences."
Des O'Neill, managing director of OmniPro Group:
"In my opinion the key trend that I am experiencing is a trend that many in the accountancy profession are ignoring. However it is a trend that is shaping the profession none-the-less.
More than ever before entrepreneurs and business owners want more. They want more from their business. They want to get results easier and quicker. They need compliance but they want more advice, more support, more of what accountants can give. Progressive modern business owners are happy to pay once they get the value. The evidence among the accountancy firms that have tapped into this is irrefutable.
This trend is a golden opportunity for the accountants who want more out of their business by giving more to their customers."
Matt Garman, CEO and founder of SalesEnabla:
"Without a doubt, the need to shift focus to advisory. It's the way to safeguard and differentiate an accountancy business, to offer wider value and offer specialist services, with the right tools, as a one stop business growth advisory shop."
Jo Edwards, managing director of JE Consulting:
"The automation of compliance is moving at a fast rate, firms have to grasp that reality and focus on developing and marketing their advisory skills."
Ian Moss, editor of Accounting Insight News:
"The focus at the moment is still on the Brexit political maneuvering at Westminster, but once this phase is over all the tension will be on practicalities. Accountants are going to be playing a vital role in helping small businesses navigate the complexities of the post-Brexit financial world (should we ever get there)."
Brian Coventry, CEO of Enivison:
"Succession issues are driving firms into mergers and aggregations that are leaving the younger generations to question what the future holds for them. Talent shortages will continue to be issue and AI will only offset some of this downside."
Get the latest industry insights at Accountex Summit North 2019
Accountex Summit North 2019 takes place at Manchester Central on 10 September. Apply for your free ticket to attend here.
Q&A with Brian Coventry
Next up in our series of speaker Q&As, we chat to Brian Coventry, CEO of Envision. In his session at Accountex Summit North 2019, Brian will share insights about the latest AI trends, Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning. We caught up with him ahead of the conference to find out more.
Tell us a bit about your background…
My current role is CEO of Symphony – APS. I have 30 years senior leadership roles in listed companies, experience in managing and building international businesses in EMEA, Australia and NZ focused on Professional Services (Accounting and Law) vertical(s) in Australia, NZ and UK. I'm qualified as an Accountant with Ernst & Whinney.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Applying my experience and knowledge of business, strategy and management – gained from different countries and cultures – helps others to see a forward path, revealing options and value improvements. I enjoy working with enthusiastic and driven people, whether it involves an engaging presentation, or to support entrepreneurial success. A key focus for me is to research and layout facts in language and terminology that others find easy to understand. It is essential to bring teams into a discussion on change, to help define a solution and then work with them to make it a reality.
And the most challenging?
Ensuring I stay focused and not getting too distracted by dead ends.
What one tip would you give to accountants to help them succeed?
Focus on building a strong culture that is genuine, where the team's behaviour demonstrates authenticity.
What do you want visitors to take away from your session at Accountex Summit North 2019?
One lightbulb moment that delivered a key learning that results in a significant change to their firm.
Is AI really going to have the impact that everyone is talking about?
Yes and no. No because some of the commentary is hype as we head to the peak of inflated expectations. Yes because the real money is on how humans will complement the emergence of new technology and how employees will be different in the years to come.
How important is Accountex Summit North to the industry?
In a word, education. Anything that provides insights into the landscape of opportunity has to be worthwhile.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
I have received lots in my career. One gem my grandfather gave me was – "there is nothing wrong with a little bit of arrogance in people, it's just when it comes coupled with ignorance that you need to give them a wide berth".
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that most people don’t know.
Classified in the main . I swim a lot. I was privileged to swim the English Channel with three mates. I swam from Finland to Sweden crossing the article circle finishing the event the day before it started.
See Brian at Accountex Summit North 2019
Artificial Intelligence: Cutting Through the Hype: Building Your AI plan in Theatre 2 at 4pm on Tuesday 10 September.