Meet the Team

Mark Friend is a Chartered Accountant and member of the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). He works with a portfolio of clients on planning and business development, and on helping them to reduce tax and to create and protect wealth.

Mark established the business in 1992 from scratch. Initially working from home, he has successfully built the practice to the business it is today. Mark has experienced all the trials and tribulations of building a successful business and loves nothing better than helping his clients to succeed.

Andrew Grant is a Chartered Accountant and fellow of the ICAEW. His portfolio includes growing businesses where he finds business, accounting and tax solutions to ensure they maximise income, protect wealth and reduce tax.

Scott joined the practice in 2009 and qualified in 2010 as a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

In 2016 Scott became Head of Accounts & Business Support with responsibility for dealing with the day-to-day affairs of a portfolio of business clients.
Scott also leads on all the firm’s audits.

Simon joined Friend & Grant in March 2009, as a graduate trainee and since February 2013 he has been a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. In 2014 Simon joined the firm’s management team and works closely with the directors on a portfolio of business clients.

Before joining us Simon completed a joint honours degree in Marketing and Accounting at Canterbury Christ Church University achieving a 2:1.

Luke joined our Accounts & Business Support Team in August 2012 as a trainee accountant. Luke completed his exams and became a qualified Chartered Accountant and member of the ICAEW in November 2017.

Luke works with the directors on a portfolio of business clients specialising in the retail sector. is focused on helping our to save tax, save time and build wealth.

Chris joined Friend & Grant in June 2014 as a graduate trainee accountant in our Accounts & Business Support department. Chris qualified as a Chartered Accountant in September 2018 and is a member of the ICAEW.

Chris works with the directors on a portfolio of business clients specialising in the manufacturing, engineering and haulage sectors.

Bryony joined the firm in September 2016 as an apprentice working in our Accounts & Business Support department. Bryony is currently studying for the AAT qualification.

Lewis joined our Accounts & Business Support department in June 2016 as a senior. Lewis has the AAT qualification and works primarily on accounts preparation for limited companies.  Lewis is now studying for the ACA, Chartered Accountant qualification.

Nick joined the practice in September 2018 as an Apprentice Accounts Assistant. He’s already started studying for his AAT exams and is currently attached to the Accounts & Business Support department.

Jack joined our Accountancy firm in October 2017 as an apprentice working in our Accounts & Business Support department. Jack is currently studying for the AAT qualification.

Jan Friend is a Chartered Tax Adviser and, as head of the Tax Team, is involved with all tax matters, business and personal. Jan looks after a portfolio of high-net-worth clients as well as being our probate services and estate planning expert.

Darren works as member of our Tax Department, dealing mainly with our smaller clients. He is also responsible for general tax compliance work. His portfolio of clients is largely made up of self-employed and partnership businesses, and includes property developers & investors, rental property owners and our high-net-worth clients.

Darren first started working for Mark as a trainee in 2000, when Mark was a sole practitioner. Darren joined the firm’s management team in 2014.

Slava joined the practice in 2018 working in our Tax Team to specialise in corporation tax. Slava is also our expert in dealing with research and development claims and has helped companies secure valuable EIS and SEIS funding.

Slava is also ATT qualified and is now training towards becoming a Chartered Tax Adviser.

Sophie joined the practice in September 2016 as an Apprentice working in our Tax Department.

Sophie is currently studying for the AAT qualification. Once completed, she will go on to study tax further with the ATT exams, and then may even become a Chartered Tax Adviser.

James deals with personal tax return preparation and provides capital gains tax advice to our clients to help reduce their tax burden.

James joined the tax department in 2017. James specialises in dealing with the personal tax affairs of high net worth individuals.

James is ATT qualified and plans to become a Chartered Tax Adviser in the coming years.

Christie joined Friend & Grant in November 2018 as an Apprentice  and is currently attached to our tax department.

Gavin joined Friend & Grant in July 2016 having previously worked for a local top twenty accountancy practice. He has a wide range of experience in Accountancy working with owner managed businesses of various sizes and sectors.

At Friend & Grant, Gavin has been pivotal in providing cloud-based accounting software solutions to our business clients.

Gavin is a Xero Certified Advisor, a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor and a Sage One Certified Advisor.

Bradley joined our Tax Department in August 2015 and then moved to the Business Support team in September 2016.  Bradley has successfully passed his AAT exams and is now training to be a Chartered Accountant.

His client base includes sole traders, partnerships and small limited companies. Bradley works with these businesses to assist with the bookkeeping and the preparation of both statutory accounts and management reports.

He is an expert in Cloud Accounting as he is a Xero Certified Advisor, a QuickBooks ProAdvisor and also a Sage One Certified Advisor.

In 2016 Melissa joined our Business Support department as an apprentice to specialise in bookkeeping, management accounts and cloud accounting.

Melissa has successfully passed her AAT exams and is now training to be a Chartered Accountant.

Melissa is a Xero Certified Advisor with payroll and migration certifications too. She is also a certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online and is Sage One Certified.

Melissa enjoys interacting with clients, helping them to achieve their business goals through providing one to one training and accurate financial advice and information.

Julie Edwards is most likely to be the first person you talk to as she is our receptionist. She also acts as PA to Mark and is responsible for company secretarial matters.

Julie joined Friend & Grant in 2004. She really enjoys meeting the clients and getting to know them.

Paige joined Friend & Grant in October 2016 as an apprentice working in an administrative and communications role. Paige has completed her Level 3 Business & Administration qualification and was nominated for the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award at the MidKent College Student Awards, coming in the top 3 out of 100 students.

Paige is also responsible for the firm’s social media and assists with the marketing. You’ll meet Paige when you visit the office.

Karen joined the firm in November 2016 as our Customer Services Officer, helping to onboard all our new clients and providing ongoing administrative support to all our existing clients.

Karen has a first-class honours degree in Psychology. She previously worked as a legal PA for law firms in London, Sydney and Auckland.