Meet Darryl and Rowan Keyte. Two business partners, with two different skill sets, two different career paths, coming together to form a unified culture at The Crew.
Innovators. Big thinkers. Passionate.
Darryl understands small and medium size clients like you because he’s an entrepreneur himself at heart. He got his start working at an accountancy practice in Johannesburg, South Africa were he specialised in forensics. After qualifying as an accountant in 1999, he moved to the UK, where he’s worked ever since.
While he’s been with a top UK firm and set up two practices of a similar nature, his dream was always to “go it alone.” The Accounting Crew is the culmination of three years of planning and a combined 42 years of experience between Darryl and Rowan.
Their aim? To do accounting differently, the way you wouldn’t expect (and won’t find anywhere else). Less of the stuffiness of traditional firms, more availability and approachability. Darryl’s personal philosophy is to treat you like family, and to serve you as a trusted partner. He takes his work very seriously, but he also likes to have fun. It’s about relationships, personal connections, and proactive advice to keep your business humming along smoothly and profitably.
When he’s not taking care of clients, you’ll most likely find Darryl spending time with his wife, 2 daughters and young son. He’s also a keen sports fan and an avid reader, especially of inspirational business books (which is probably how he got inspired to become “the Google of the accounting world”). Chat directly to Darryl at 0203 859 6184 or by email and see if The Accounting Crew is a good partner for you and your business.
Rowan brings a wealth of experience in accounting and finance to The Accounting Crew, dating back to 2001. He’s worked for two multinationals in the UK in the construction and travel industries, and for Ericsson AB in the telecommunications industry in South Africa.
From 2010 to 2013 he headed up the business finance team for one of Ericsson’s global customers, MTN, in Dubai. As a result, Rowan is known for his outside-the-box, strategic thinking and believes in going the extra mile for clients.
Outside of work, Rowan enjoys time with his wife, two daughters, and a son. He’s also a passionate sports fan, and you might very well run into him at a football, cricket, or rugby match.
Chat directly to Rowan at 0203 859 6183 or by email. He’d love to find out more about your business and let you know how The Accounting Crew can help.
Jacqui has a wealth of experience which she brings to our clients and The Accounting Crew alike. She started her career in accountancy working for a small practice in the Midlands. Jacqui then moved on to further her career with a specialist contractor accountancy firm in 2001 and has worked in this bespoke sector ever since. This has given her more than 22 years’ experience in the contractor, micro and SME market.
Jacqui, has in the past, managed one of the UK’s largest accountancy firm’s office in Birmingham which built a client portfolio of nearly two thousand clients during her tenure. This was made up of one and two person limited companies dealing with IT contractors, management consultants, project managers, locum doctors and many other freelance consultants and small business.
When Jacqui is not in the office, she spends her time relaxing with friends and family and her beloved cats and dog.
Chat directly to Jacqui at 0203 859 6185 or by e-mail. She’d love to find out more about your business and let you know how The Accounting Crew can help
Ikra joined us in 2018 and has been a welcome addition to the team here at The Crew. She brings a youthful and cheery air to the office and a dedication to her work that appears to be stiff competition to the rest of us!
Ikra is a graduate accountant with a degree in Accounting & Finance and through her time at The Crew, she hopes to further her studies and ultimately qualify as a Chartered Accountant. Through her work, Ikra has a real desire to help others and give clients a different impression of the stereotypical accountant – we are allowed to be nice people with a sense of humour and room for a bit of fun!
When she is not hard at work, she loves a bit of swimming and spends time with her family & friends.
Work life for Russ started in the retail sector in and around South Africa where he remained for 10 years working his way up the retail ladder. A slight change in career direction meant he then moved on to study IT and worked his way up to Manager of Quality Control within one of SA’s largest IT call centres. But a nagging love of numbers meant that he was always destined to work in the accounting field sooner rather than later. His entry into the world of accounting happened in 2008, where he worked for one of the UK’s largest accountancy firms for a period of 7 years.
On joining the Crew in 2017, he now looks to continue in this field. Russ, specialises in all matters relating to payroll and currently runs The Crew’s payroll department, a vital and very busy position, one which he thoroughly enjoys.
When not at work, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends. Formula 1 is his sport of choice, but Rugby and cricket come a close 2nd and 3rd.
Viki joined The Crew right from the start and has been a part of our administration team. A critical function within our business, her attention to detail is one of her core strengths. However, this is a far cry from her original passion, Microbiology.
As a Microbiology honours graduate specialising in Microbial Genetics, Viki has spent time in clinical research at St James’ Hospital in Leeds and at the Clinical Trials Service Unit at Oxford University. This being a world away from her formal training, does not diminish her love for what she does at The Crew and she has a real ambition to ensure that we run the best administration processes we can.
3 kids keep Viki busy most days of the week, outside of working hours, while always keeping a careful eye on all matters medical / biological, an interest that will never diminish!
Andy has been with The Crew for four years and now leads our entire Accounting Division.
He has a wealth of experience in the accounting industry. Sandwiched between that mountain of knowledge were four years at HMRC where he worked in a specialist compliance team in Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism. Andy continues to search for ways to grow, whether that is expanding his knowledge on a subject or finding a smarter, more effective way of working to maximise his client engagements.
Away from work a lot has changed. First came marriage and then a first child (those days of sleeping are now long gone…). As father time comes around, his mains hobbies have also changed with football taking a back seat and golf coming to the fore. His driver still needs some work but we know he won’t stop trying to perfect that swing!
Emma joined us here at The Crew back in 2019 to ‘sort us out’ for want of a better phrase. She has a wealth of experience in administration and office management and comes armed with plenty of ideas and much dedication in making us a better outfit.
She lives locally to our Stratford-Upon-Avon office and finds herself with a healthy determination to make a difference here at The Crew. Being super-organised, thorough and harbouring a passion for the detail, we have already seen the impact she has created. In her own words, “The day is what you make it so why not make it a great one?” A philosophy that sits very nicely with us all.
When not dedicating her time to the office, you can find Emma attending any sort of live event, (think concerts, live tours, comedy…) and loves finding more quirkier things to do – like walking alpacas! She is never far away from a paint brush (or drill!) and often finds herself helping out her family and friends with their latest DIY project!
Jo is one of our qualified accountants having secured a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. She brings loads of very good experience and hard work to our team….and a bubbly and happy personality. It is all about the clients, though, and her goal and ambition is simply to do a great job and add some real value to those that she acts for. Open to change, she is also looking to keep adapting to new ways and the use of new technologies. Simply getting better and what she does, always improving. Having been with us for 7 years now, Jo is an important part of our office and set up in Glasgow and as one of our senior accountants, looks forward to imparting that expertise to her clients for many years to come.
Outside of the office, Jo enjoys attending gigs, festivals and a theatre or two – very rock ‘n roll! If it wasn’t for her love of accounting, she may have been a Zoologist! Chalk and cheese. Previous work has taken her to the heights of a production planner at mail flight firm. Here at The Crew, we are delighted she chose accounting.
Jo lives in East Kilbride with her teenage daughter.
One of our very newest recruits here at The Crew. And what a valuable addition she is. Jane has many years’ experience in office management that she brings to the table; experience that no doubt we will benefit from. Having worked in different sectors across her career including in oil & gas, shipping and property, there is no doubt that she is versatile and adaptable, traits she will need as she now finds her way around the accounting sector. We have already been the beneficiary of her expertise and there is no doubt she has so much more value she can add to our business.
When Jane is not sorting us out, you can find her enjoying all the active things in life such as cycling, swimming, gardening and there must be a musical side to her too, as her piano back home will attest to. Hidden talents….and more…. Jane was an international 400m hurdler, competing at the Commonwealth Games. What an achievement….her greatest is ahead of her, we like to believe!
This is Margaret. Everyone knows Margaret and for good reason. Margaret has been with The Crew (previously Aird Sakol) for around 30 years now. A career dedicated to the continued success of our Glasgow office. As our resident tax manager, not only our clients but our team rely on her for her wealth of experience and knowledge. As a qualified Chartered Accountant, clients have come to rely on her expertise over the years and we look forward to tapping into that knowledge for years to come – there is no sign of her slowing down as she looks to continue improving through The Crew’s vision of improvement through effective use of new technologies.
When not being our resident tax expert, Margaret can be found out and about walking her Whippet (hello, Cher!) or doing a bit of reading, attending quiz nights or trying her hand at a bit of bridge. And knowing Margaret, she is probably pretty good at that too! Her love of languages means she may well have been a French Language Interpreter has numbers on taken centre stage. Other hobbies include listening to Radio 6, enjoying an episode of Scandi Noir on TV and lunching or grabbing a coffee with friends – the rest, she tells us…unprintable!
Margaret is married to Peter and lives locally to our Clarkston office in Glasgow.
Kristy joined The Crew mid-way through 2021 as one of our most senior accountants. Dealing with the joys of a new employment in the middle of a pandemic was not easy but we have already felt her impact and influence here in the office.
Kristy has a BSc degree in Accounting & Finance having completed her studies at Birmingham University. In addition, she also holds the ACCA qualification. She has worked in practice since qualifying and took the decision to further her career here at The Crew when she heard we were looking for a top quality, fully qualified accountant with a passion to do brilliant things….we felt she fit the bill and so it is proving to be!
When Kristy is not hard at work adding value to her clients journeys, you can find her looking after her young son and spending time with her husband. The playing of her piano is also a favoured out-the office hobby – started as a 4 year old!
Billy has been with the company (previously with Aird Sakol) for some 14 years now. It has always been about specialising in the payroll sector; a sector that can be highly technical and so important for all our clients. That sort of dedication is not often seen these days and it is a privilege to have him with us. He reckons he may have looked at qualifying as an accountant if it were not for his enjoyment of the payroll work he does. Working closely with Russ, there is always more to learn and takes real commitment to keep up to date with the many and consistent changes relating to payroll. Having Billy’s expertise is crucial in helping us become better as a business and we look forward to his influence continuing to push us forward.
Outside of the enjoyment he gets in learning new things and meeting new people in his work life, Billy loves all the things that we work hard to enjoy such as watching some live football, playing a bit of golf or socialising with friends and family. Those are the things that keep us grounded and lead to a full life; one that he is taking full advantage of. If you ever chat to him, ask about his love of football – always an enjoyable chat!
dddsadsa
“Complete end-to-end solutions. I’ve been with The Crew since 2013 and I woudn’t think of moving anywhere else. The personal touch is what separates them from the rest” – Alexander Hampel
