Haines Watts expands north east team

Haines Watts has strengthened its presence in the north east through the recruitment of five new team members in the last month. The new recruits join across three different service lines, including accounts, tax incentives and reliefs and audit. Ashleigh Hoskins and Ben Straughan both join Haines Watts as tax incentives and reliefs executives, alongside Chris Tirant who joins as incentives and reliefs manager. In their new roles, they will work to support businesses across the UK with R&D tax relief claims. Hoskins said: “After graduating from university at the strangest of times, I was so worried about finding a job in the current climate but Haines Watts have given me the warmest welcome. “My first few weeks have been a mix of emotions with the occurrence of the second lockdown, however the Tax Incentives and Reliefs team have given me the upmost confidence in my job and made my experience really enjoyable.” In addition, Saskia Hill joins the Haines Watts team accounts team, and Thomas Gillis joins the audit team, specialising in not-for-profits. Gillis said: “It was slightly scary having just started a new job being told to work from home after my first week but the Haines Watts team have been really supportive, going out of their way to make time for me. “If they haven’t heard from me I will always get a message to check how I’m getting on. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to the office and meeting everyone in person rather than through a screen.” Speaking on the new recruits, managing partner Donna Bulmer said: “I am delighted to welcome five great new additions to the team bringing our local headcount to 76, 13 of which have started during the lockdown period. “This year has been full of uncertainty for everyone, so we are over the moon to have been able to offer opportunities throughout the course of the year. We look forward to welcoming more talented people to our growing team in 2021.”