Nub News is thrilled to announce that Evans Entwistle Chartered Management Accountants & Tax Advisors have become our latest sponsor.

After a year of supporting their clients through the pandemic, they are now helping Nub News tell the tales that matter to Penarth.

This is their story.

An ever-growing family

Evans Entwistle is a family-run business in the truest sense. Back in 1995, founders Damian Evans and Lisa Entwistle met in the world famous Hacienda Club in Manchester, the city where Lisa grew up and where Damian attended university.

In the 25 years between then and now, the couple have gotten married, moved to Penarth, raised three sons and founded a now well-known accountancy and taxation practice which has local roots with flourishing ambitions for growth.

When they first considered starting their own firm, Damian was working in a senior banking role and Lisa was a senior management consultant at Deloitte, a Big Four practice. Lisa was constantly posted oversees, enjoying lengthy stints across Europe and the Caribbean, whilst Damian was working the hours expected of a city banker.

"We loved so many aspects of that life, and the travelling was obviously amazing, but our work life balance was somewhat off kilter…so we took the plunge and founded Evans Entwistle"

From this turning point, the business has gone from strength to strength. Having established their second office in Bristol in 2018, they now serve over 600 happy clients, and have a team of eight, including Matt Ward, who has been recently appointed to Director. Lisa says hiring Matt straight out of university in 2013 was the best decision they ever made:

"He's spent his whole career with us and has worked up to Director, and is now integral to our management team"

The pandemic

Evans Entwistle pride themselves on offering an holistic service. Besides general accountancy services, the team also provides specialist tax advice, strategic business planning and corporate finance support, assisting clients to seek the funding they need to start up, grow, acquire or divest of their business.

Their tagline is "we're here all year, not just at year end", highlighting the close relationships they strive to form with their clients.

And when the pandemic struck, those close bonds proved invaluable. In the early days of Covid, when government advice and financial assistance was not immediately forthcoming, Lisa became a sounding board for their portfolio of concerned clients.

"I hope that we were able to offer a modicum of comfort at such a difficult time….and then obviously as the various funding packages were gradually announced, I switched my focus towards helping our clients secure support from all of the various government schemes that were available to them.

"And despite the obvious adversities borne from the pandemic, what was inspiring for us was to see how so many of our clients successfully adapted and changed to the prevailing conditions – and that's where you witness true entrepreneurship."

Pro bone-o: Giving back to the community

Besides ongoing support for clients, Evans Entwistle enjoy giving back to their local community by championing causes that matter to them.

Cardiff Dogs Home is very close to heart of the practice, after Damian and Lisa adopted their beloved German Shepherd, Max, in March 2020. The firm are now avidly raising money for the Dog's Home charity, The Rescue Hotel, by providing tax and accountancy work on a pro bono basis (or should we say pro bone-o?) whilst Lisa is running the Cardiff Half Marathon this October in their name – head over to the Evans Entwistle website to find out how you can sponsor her.

They are also proud trustees of the Penarth Chamber Music Festival, one of the most wonderful events in the local cultural calendar, as well as being long standing sponsors of Penarth Town FC U15s for whom of their sons still plays.

And now, as part of their continued commitment to the community, they have become proud sponsors of Nub News.

This new partnership will help enable Nub News to report the latest news from our town, helping us to make good on our promise to put Penarth in your pocket and bring you closer to the town you love.

"We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Evans Entwistle have agreed to sponsor us in Penarth," says Nub News CEO Karl Hancock.

"Supporting local business is one of the cornerstones of Nub News, so to have a like-minded business on board is a really exciting prospect.

"It is fantastic that businesses like Evans Entwistle are choosing to support local news. Without their sponsorship, Nub News would be unable to continue telling the stories that matter to local people."

The door is always open

Evans Entwistle supports over 600 businesses - Penarth Nub News now included - to succeed. It is clear that Lisa and Damian intend to keep growing this number and have genuine ambitions for their company.

But what drives them to succeed?

"Whilst we are immensely focused as a practice, we are also grounded in empathy – we know what it feels like to start a small business, and watch it grow; we understand your cashflow worries, your HR constraints, your admin burden…and of course, we are also driven by the same sense of achievement that you feel when your business thrives. To help you on all those fronts, our door is genuinely always open…"