Meet the Team
Bernard S Verby (FCCA) Managing Partner
email: b.verby@bennettverby.co.uk
Bernard Verby trained and qualified in Manchester and worked for a number of national practices in their corporate finance and management consultancy departments before he established Bennett Verby in 1991. He is the figure head of the business and leads the strategic development as well as retaining a small portfolio of clients. Under his leadership and along with his fellow Partners the business has grown both organically and through acquisition to be a leading firm of accountants in the North West. Bernard is keen to instill a culture of aboslute customer focus within the business and has introduced several additional business services to ensure a complete solution is on offer.
Bernard is involved with a number of national and international business associations as well as acting as Honorary Treasurer on the board of a number of charities and is also involved with the school’s PTA. He lives with his wife and daughters and when he has any spare time is a keen cyclist and also has a passion for buying and restoring classic cars.
Areas of Expertise:
- Management and strategic advice for family businesses and entrepreneurs
- Corporate finance
- Acquisitions, Disposals and MBOs
- Raising funds
- Organisation restructuring
- Turnaround Management and profit improvement
Steven L Rhodes (FCA, FCCA) Business Advice & Audit Partner
Steven is a senior partner with Bennett Verby.
Steven started his career with a small independent firm of accountants prior to moving to an international firm Ernst & Young where he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1984.
Steven always had ambitions to run his own practice and eventually in 1990 he set up Rhodes Walsh & Co with two colleagues.
Following expansion and growth of the two offices within Rhodes Walsh the Stafford office was eventually sold to a national firm of accountants and the Hazel Grove office with Steven Rhodes and John Sutcliffe as partners was merged with Bernard Verby in 1990.
Since 1990 Steven has been a senior partner and assisted in the significant growth and expansion of the size and service that the practice now has to offer.
Steven continues to offer a personal service to all types and sizes of clients and by being the staff partner has been able to offer his experience and advice to the employees who have worked and continue to work for Bennett Verby.
Areas of Expertise:
- General management and financial advice for private businesses,
- tax advice and planning,
- Audit and accounts compliance
Steven lives in Glossop with his wife Sharon and has three grown up children.
He has a keen interest in all sports and although no longer plays football and squash still spends a lot of time watching most sports whenever possible.
For an in informal chat please contact via email: s.rhodes@bvllp.com
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John Sutcliffe (FCA,FCCA) Business Advice & Audit Partner
John has devoted much of his career to helping small ambitious Companies to achieve and surpass their growth objectives. Once he had trained and qualified within the Manchester office of Joliffe Cork & Company he moved to the audit department of PKF before heading up their Small Business Services department. It was here he developed his passion for business and represented Manchester in the National Medical Advisors Committee.
It was 1990 when he joined forces with Steven Rhodes and Ian Walsh before both he and Steven merged in 1999, with Bennett Verby & Co to create Bennett Verby it its current form. John brings a wealth of experience and expertise to a diverse client base.
Areas of Expertise: Audit and accountancy, with special interest in major clients in the following areas:-
- engineering industry
- medical and dental professions
- nursing homes
- construction industry
- surveying profession
- property development
- food importing and exporting
- printing industry
- information technology
- hotel industry
John is married with 3 children which keeps him pretty busy. He does however find time to watch Manchester United as he is a season ticket holder and likes to have the occasional round of golf. His musical passion lies with a love of Otis Redding.
For an informal chat, please contact John via email: j.Sutcliffe@bvllp.com.
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Nick Lowe (BSc, CTA) Tax Partner
email: n.lowe@bennettverby.co.uk
Nick qualified with a BSc in mathematics at Sheffield University and began his earlier tax training with an accountancy practice in Oxford obtaining the ATII (CTA). He joined Rhodes Walsh & Company in 1990 as tax manager and became senior tax partner in the newly merged Bennett Verby in 1999.
Areas of Expertise: Personal and Corporate taxation, in particular:-
- Group restructuring
- Inheritance tax planning
- Taxation of expatriots
- Tax planning on retirement for family businesses
- Extraction of company profits
Ian Buckley (FCCA) Business Advice & Audit Partner
email: i.buckley@bennettverby.co.uk
Ian qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 1997 after completing his training with Charles Frieze & Co (now Howarth Clarke Whitehill). He had joined Charles Frieze & Co in 1987 as a junior and worked his way up in the firm to be manager at the time of his departure in February 2000.
He joined Bennett Verby in February 2000 as an audit manager and has subsequently become an equity partner in 2004.
He is also a member of The County Business Club (a networking business club which meets every week).
Areas of Expertise: Audit and Accounts Compliance, Commercial and Financial Advice for all businesses and Preparation and evaluation of Management Accounts for all types of businesses.
Strengths: Works to deadlines meeting his clients needs. Working with clients to ensure their objectives are met and can adopt a hands on approach if so required by the client.
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Vincent Simmons (MIPA, MABRP) Corporate Recovery Partner
email: v.simmons@bvllp.com
Vincent trained and qualified within an International accountancy practice as well as gaining valuable experience within smaller independent firms. It was this wide and varied experience within both a “Big 4” firm and independent practices, which provided the perfect combination of both knowledge and experience as he established Bennett Verby’s Corporate Recovery & Insolvency, practice in February 2001.
With over 25 years experience, Vincent has built an enviable reputation for dealing with difficult situations with a resolution attitude delivered with both efficiency and empathy.
Vincent has acted as office holder for businesses within all industry sectors developing a specific expertise in retail, heavy engineering and construction. In addition, he has handled high profile cases such as investigating the actions of directors of a Company on behalf of the Motion Picture Association.
He is a fellow of both the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association (IPA) and the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3).
Areas of Expertise:
- Business Turnaround
- Voluntary Arrangements (Company, Partnership and Individual)
- Liquidations (Solvent and insolvent)
- Bankruptcy
- Administrations
- Receiverships
- Informal Arrangements
- Independent Viability reviews
Vincent is married with 2 sons and is an avid sports fan. He has a love of travel and lived in Canada for a number of years. His musical taste is also more stateside as he favoured genre is Country Music.
To contact Vincent for an informal chat please email v.simmons@bvllp.com
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