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Who we are

Who we are

We believe a company is only as good as its people. Our staff provide the best service available, providing up-to-date and targeted advice on a range of accountancy services to companies, sole traders, partnerships and private individuals.

We offer you our expertise across a number of areas and have departments focused on auditing, small businesses, accounting software, company law, company, personal and trust taxation, charities and VAT.

Our team

Karen Staley

Director

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Carl

Carl France

Director

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Dean Clacher

Director

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Chris Beeston

Director

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Nic Jolley

Manager

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Matt James

Manager

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Tania Arnold

Manager

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Steve Mastin

Personal Tax Manager

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Jared Grounsell

Audit Manager

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Julie Briscoe

Payroll Manager

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Connor Christie

Accounting and tax team

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Aaron Knox

Accounting and tax team

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Nicky Simpson

Accounting and tax team

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Theepikan Nagulendran

Accounting and tax team

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Jack Bentley

Accounting and tax team

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Mary Powell

Accounting and tax team

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Brendan Taylor

Accounting and tax team

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Aziz Ravasia

Audit team

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Hollie Wiles

Audit team

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Mitch Washington

Audit team

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Margaret Furreddu

Payroll

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Angelina Furreddu

Office team

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Helen Wilshaw

Office team

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Stephen Thomas

Office team

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What our clients say about us

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Karen Staley

Director

Area of expertise

Karen focuses on all aspects relating to the firm’s varied and extensive corporate client base, from the relatively small owner managed to the larger more complex corporate entities. She works closely with her clients in supervising their routine accounts preparation and audit and corporate taxation matters. She is the firm’s senior statutory auditor, and her audit team also looks after statutory and non-statutory audits and regulated client compliance work such as solicitors, pension schemes and our clients within the financial services sector. She also advises landed estates and trusts on all matters relating to accounting and tax.

Karen has a Zoology degree from Liverpool University, graduating in 1994. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998 at Geens and became the firm’s first female partner in 2003.

In her spare time she rides horses to a competitive standard but is frequently found acting as groom to her two daughters in their equine pursuits from their home in Leek. She has organised all Geens’ charity challenges and hopes to do more.

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Carl France

Director

Area of expertise

Carl has a mixed client base of owner managed corporate entities and a particular specialism in charities, associations and clubs. In common with Geens’ philosophy Carl is closely involved with his clients and likes to be “hands on” providing all round business and taxation advice to the entity and its stakeholders. He regularly advises on share valuations and exit planning as well as business start-ups, profit extraction and corporate structures.

Born and educated in the Stoke-on-Trent area, he joined Geens in 1982 before moving to the City of London for a short period, gaining valuable experience in a mid-tier accountancy firm. He returned and rejoined Geens in 1989 and became partner in 2006. Carl, once upon a time, was a semi-professional footballer with Port Vale Football Club, and latterly Leek Town until his knees let him down. He follows all sport and now regularly plays golf being a member at Leek Golf club.

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Dean Clacher

Director

Area of expertise

Dean qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2003 and has vast experience in looking after owner-managed businesses including sole traders, partnerships and limited companies dealing with their accountancy and tax affairs. Dean also looks after private individuals advising on all aspects of personal tax compliance and planning opportunities. He is accredited to provide Probate Services and shares responsibility for the Probate department with Chris Beeston. 

Dean lives in Stone with his wife and three children who keep him busy in his spare time with their football and hockey.  He has taken part in all our charity challenges helping to raise over £50k.

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Chris Beeston

Director

Area of expertise

Chris started at Geens in 2007 completing his exams in record time being fully qualified by the age of 21.

Following this he passed his Chartered Tax exams, winning 2 prizes and the highest result in the country for Inheritance Tax, Trusts and Estates.  He now heads our Tax and Probate department with a particular interest in Inheritance Tax Planning, Trusts and Estates. Chris was appointed Tax Director in 2017.

He has been a finalist in the Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce Business Awards and has published articles in Tax Adviser Magazine. He is also heavily involved in our charities sector, providing extensive taxation and accountancy advice.

Outside of work, Chris enjoys camping with his family.

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Nic Jolley

Manager

Area of expertise

Nic joined Geens following her degree at Staffordshire University in 2005 and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant. She works closely with Dean and Chris in our tax department and is a client manager to our unincorporated client base. Nic is experienced in many areas including personal taxes and VAT and is always on hand to assist clients with bookkeeping matters and software tuition.

Originally from Chelmsford she currently lives in Leek and likes to exercise in her spare time. She is a keen follower of many sports and is always ready to take part in our charity challenges, proving herself to be very competitive.

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Matt James

Manager

Area of expertise

Matt manages the organisation of our corporate department and works closely with all directors. He is diligent in his attention to our clients’ needs and is in regular contact with them, ensuring they meet their deadlines in a timely fashion and have the information they need when they want it.

In his free time Matt can be found enjoying country sports such as shooting and he is also a Port Vale fan, though he tends not to wear country tweeds to attend matches.

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Tania Arnold

Manager

Area of expertise

Tania joined our busy accounts and audit department in 2016 and predominately spends time preparing accounts for our corporate clients. She has many years’ experience in practice and we welcome her ‘can do’ attitude and immense patience in training and supporting our junior trainees. She now manages her own client base.

In her free time she enjoys yoga and is a volunteer at her local church.

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Steve Mastin

Personal Tax Manager

Area of expertise

Steve joined Geens in December 2022 as part of our personal tax team. With a wealth of experience in the financial sector, Steve has previously worked at a Unit Managers, Stockbrokers and the Court of Protection before making the move into personal tax.

Steve also has a love of travel, with his favourite destination being Taormina in Sicily with which he enjoys the relaxed lifestyle, great food and stunning views of this beautiful location.

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Jared Grounsell

Audit Manager

Area of expertise

Jared joined us in July 2016 and works in our accounts and audit department with both charity and corporate clients. Having studied Geography at Sheffield University he began his career at Mazars – a Top Ten international firm of accountants and has had a spell on the other side as a financial controller in industry. Jared is a father of four but remarkably still finds some free time to enjoy country walks, trips to the cinema and eating out! Despite his fears he proved to be ‘King of the Mountain’ in our latest charity challenge.

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Julie Briscoe

Payroll Manager

Area of expertise

Julie joined Geens as Payroll Manager in February 2021 after many years at another local accountancy firm.  She has many years of experience in payroll having previously worked in the hospitality and recruitment sectors which, as you may imagine, are challenging payroll environments. Julie also assists clients with cloud bookkeeping to ensure they remain up to date. Not satisfied with her current skill set, she is independently studying for her AAT qualification to widen her knowledge.

At home, Julie is kept busy with her 2 dogs, and she also loves to travel, Italy being a favourite. 

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Connor Christie

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

After discovering University wasn’t for him, Connor decided to use his skills in maths and knowledge in finance to pursue a career in accounting. After completing a self-study level 2 course in accounting, he was given the great opportunity to continue studying for his qualifications at Geens through a level 3 apprenticeship scheme.

Although he is always hard at work studying, in his spare time he also enjoys bouldering (indoor rock climbing), swimming, and spending time with his friends. His current goal is to become fully qualified as a chartered accountant. However, with the many opportunities ahead, he may decide to progress into a different qualification in accounting.

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Aaron Knox

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

Aaron began his studies at Newcastle-under-Lyme College, where he began his A Levels before progressing to AAT Level 2. He joined Geens as an apprentice and quickly developed a keen interest in taxation while working alongside our Tax team. Now ATT qualified, Aaron is furthering his expertise by undertaking Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) exams to enhance his specialist knowledge in tax advisory services.

Outside of work, Aaron enjoys playing football, exploring the outdoors, and visiting family in Scotland.

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Aaron began his studies at Newcastle-under-Lyme College, where he began his A Levels before progressing to AAT Level 2.  He joined Geens as an apprentice and quickly developed a keen interest in taxation while working alongside our Tax team.  Now ATT qualified, Aaron is furthering his expertise by undertaking Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) exams to enhance his specialist knowledge in tax advisory services.

Outside of work he enjoys playing football, walking and visiting family in Scotland.

Nicky Simpson

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

Nicky first joined us in 1998 as a graduate trainee undertaking the Chartered Accountancy exams. She gained experience in the accounts, audit and tax departments during this time. She left to have her family but joined us again in the summer of 2014 on a part-time basis where she now assists Nic and Dean in the unincorporated and personal tax department as well as assisting our Audit team working on Solicitors Accounts Rules (SAR).

She lives in Newcastle-under-Lyme with her husband and children and when not dedicating herself to the children’s social life plays tennis and enjoys being out with their dog.

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Theepikan Nagulendran

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

Theepikan joined Geens in June 2021 as an AAT apprentice, and successfully achieved a Distinction in his AAT Level 2 qualification.  Since then, he has successfully completed his AAT studies and is now advancing his career by transitioning into our Audit department, where he looks forward to new challenges and professional growth.   

Outside of work, Theepikan is passionate about football and go-karting and is an avid Formula 1 fan. While he has yet to participate in a charity event, he is eager to get involved in future initiatives with the Geens team. 

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Jack Bentley

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

Jack joined Geens in December 2022 as a trainee working in the corporate accounts department. He was a student at Keele studying Accounting Finance and International Business and achieved a 1st class honours in July 22. Before joining Geens he worked in various accounts roles in industry which has given him a great foundation to his career in practice.

In his free time, he enjoys snowboarding, gardening, cooking and camping.

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Mary Powell

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

Mary joined our accounts team in October 2022. She is fully qualified ACCA and gained 10 years’ experience working in practice within corporate and audit teams, before having a career break to raise her family. She is enjoying using her skills again. 

Her young children keep her busy at home with their hobbies including horse riding and dance, and she enjoys making pottery in her spare time. 

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Brendan Taylor

Accounting and tax team

Area of expertise

Brendan joined Matt James’ team in the corporate department in July 2023. He completed his CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting whilst working in his previous role in the accounts department of a local ceramics company. Brendan is looking to stride forwards in practice, and fully qualify as an accountant.

When not in work, Brendan enjoys reading, spending time with his new wife Hannah, and training for an upcoming charity bike ride.

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Aziz Ravasia

Audit team

Area of expertise

Aziz joined Geens as part of our Audit team in April 2021, having worked in practice for over 5 years. Aziz developed a keen interest in accountancy at school and continued his ambitions to qualify as a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA).

Aziz is a keen sports enthusiast who loves playing and watching cricket, tennis, and football. He has been a semi-pro tennis player and cricketer in the past but now only plays for fun.

He passionately enjoys great movies and nice music, as well as being a massive foodie (so should fit in at Geens quite nicely!)

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Hollie Wiles

Audit team

Area of expertise

Hollie joined the Geens Accounts team in January 2021, working alongside Matt James and his team in the Corporate department.  She initially pursued her AAT qualifications through self-study while working as an Office Manager in industry.  After successfully completing her studies, Hollie transitioned into our Audit department and whilst gaining hands-on experience, Hollie undertook her Chartered Accountancy exams and is now ACA qualified.  

After living in France for over a decade, Hollie is fluent in French and has a passion for running and walking.  She recently completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge and looks forward to participating in Geens’ next charity event.  

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Mitch Washington

Audit team

Area of expertise

Mitch joined our accounts team in 2019, having discovered a keen interest in accounting whilst studying A Level Business Studies at Newcastle-under-Lyme College.  He followed this up with his AAT qualification and is now battling his way through the challenging chartered exams whilst working in the audit department.

A little bird tells us that he can play the guitar and has several acoustic and electric guitars in his collection, we are looking forward to our invitation to his first gig.

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Margaret Furreddu

Payroll

Area of expertise

Margaret joined in 2018 after returning to Stoke-on-Trent from a number of years on the south coast. With many years’ experience in payroll she will be busy helping many of our clients who prefer to leave this element of their business to us. 

In her spare time Margaret enjoys the theatre and has been seen in the past, abseiling down the YMCA building in Hanley for charity so she should feel at home here.

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Angelina Furreddu

Office team

Area of expertise

Angelina joined in September 2018 after several years on the south coast working in admin support at a private school. She now heads our welcoming committee being front of house and our first point of contact for most clients. She is incredibly organised, a very useful skill in our practice, and a real asset to our team. Alongside reception duties she supports our Probate Department where she has set up our systems and procedures goals and ensures they are implemented to a high standard. Always cheerful, she is a great member of the Geens team.

In her spare time Angelina enjoys cooking for her family and friends and is always keen to try new recipes – especially cakes!

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Helen Wilshaw

Office team

Area of expertise

Helen joined Geens’ Admin Team in the summer of 2021 from her role as office administrator at a national firm of solicitors in the area.  Helen brings with her a wide range of admin skills and experience including a background in finance, insolvency and hospitality.

Helen works fulltime, largely supporting Matt James and his team in the corporate department ensuring the wheels run smoothly in this fast paced department. When not at work she enjoys walks with her mad Springer Spaniel Sammy and she especially enjoys baking and cake decorating, which we are all hoping to sample on a regular basis.

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Stephen Thomas

Office team

Area of expertise

Stephen began his career at Geens in 1972 and worked his way through the ranks to Office Manager. Having taken a small step into retirement he now works 2 days a week and deals with Geens’ own internal matters.

Outside of work he has recently retired from ‘competitive’ running having completed 75 half-marathons and one marathon, totalling 1008 miles!

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