Directors

John joined Lopian Gross Barnett & Co in 1992 and, along with Graham, is one of the longest-serving employees at the firm. He offers assistance and advice in all areas, including:

• Bookkeeping,
• Accounts
• Direct and indirect taxation
• Statutory audit

He has considerable experience in dealing with your traditional large trading companies including home grown manufacturing and import / export wholesale.

John’s approach and commitment has led him to head up ‘Special Work’ assignments dealing with both purchaser and vendor due diligence in many fields, as well as Ad-Hoc Accountants Report work more recently focusing on bridging and development loan finance.

Despite his wide-ranging responsibilities, John always finds time to answer staff and client questions about his final area of expertise, Solicitors Accounts Rules.

Graham joined Lopian Gross Barnett & Co back in January 1985 and has been involved in just about every sector of the practice over the years, providing him with invaluable experience as a general practitioner whilst still allowing him to specialise in the preparation of accounts, audits, and corporate tax work.

Outside work, he is very much kept busy and on his toes by his wife, four children and three grandchildren. He is also responsible for managing the finances of one of the largest junior football clubs in the Northwest and still finds time for tackling hikes in the Lake District and cheering home the racehorses he has small interests in.

Jason trained in accountancy with Price Waterhouse in Manchester, later moving to Ernst & Young’s London office where he qualified as a tax adviser in 1994 and specialised in International Corporate Taxation.

After Jason returned to Manchester, he rejoined PricewaterhouseCoopers and put his experience to good use. During this time, Jason was heavily involved in the $500m refinancing of the UK division of a major consumer group and the flotation of a FTSE 100 listed company with a market capitalisation of £1 billion.

Jason joined Lopian Gross Barnett in 2002 to refocus on providing general accounting and taxation advice to entrepreneurs and was made a director of the firm in 2004. He has continued to modernise company-wide operations and strengthen our tax department ever since.

In his spare time, Jason enjoys Hergé's Adventures of Tin Tin, birdwatching, suffering through Newcastle United FC matches, and spending time with his wife, three children, and dog Sherlock.

He works closely with many international, privately owned businesses and trusts, delivering accounting advice, corporate and personal tax advice and general business advisory.

He has advised on the tax and commercial implications of company reorganisations as well as the sale and purchase of businesses.

Jonathan also has significant experience in the carehome sector and property sector.

Simon qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser whilst working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in London within the Entrepreneurial and Private Client tax department. After 6 years in London, Simon realised his heart was still in Manchester. On relocating with his family, he joined BDO where he pursued his passion for working with entrepreneurs and their businesses and high net worth individuals.

During these formative years, Simon developed experience in a range of corporate matters, including tax efficient profit extraction, company reorganisations and share structuring. He has advised shareholders and management teams on business sales and management buy-outs as well as financial due diligence matters.
Simon is also regularly involved in Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax planning, and advising non-UK resident and non-UK domiciled individuals.

Simon advises broadly within his field and has particular expertise in the following areas:

• Corporate Reorganisations and Succession Planning
• Structures for Employee Incentivisation
• Research & Development Tax Relief
• Enterprise Investment Scheme
• Stamp Duty Land Tax

In addition to his work, Simon’s enthusiasm for almost any sport keeps his competitive tendencies placated. He frequently supports local and charitable initiatives and currently oversees the qualification process for the trainee accountants at Lopian Gross Barnett & Co as part of his personal mission to change the stereotypical image of an accountant.

Having completed his training in London, Ben found himself gravitating back to the Northwest where he grew up. He joined PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Private Business team where he spent six years advising private businesses, their owners, and high-net worth individuals.

Now at Lopian Gross Barnett & Co since 2018, Ben advises his clients on a broad range of tax issues with particular expertise in the following:

• Transactional work including management buy-outs, share sales and partial exits
• Business restructuring including share-for-share exchanges, demergers and mergers.
• Expatriate tax & non-domiciles, including planning for inbounds/outbounds and remittance basis planning.
• Employee share and share option schemes
• Inheritance tax/succession planning
• Stamp duty
• Trusts

Ben has a deep-rooted passion for tax which boils down to an enjoyment in finding neat solutions to complex issues by working through a myriad of legislation. He enjoys forming close relationships with his clients and advising on all aspects of their personal and business tax affairs.

Outside of work, Ben enjoys spending time with his family, including two young children who keep him on his toes figuratively and physically.

Nat always knew he wanted to enter the accountancy profession and recognised audit as providing the ideal foundation of technical knowledge and comprehensive exposure to how finance teams function in a variety of businesses. After graduating from the University of Newcastle, he completed his training in the Audit department of Ernst and Young before joining Lopian Gross Barnett & Co in 2016 and becoming a director of the firm in 2019 where he has continued to develop his expertise.

Nat specialises in financial reporting, auditing the UK subsidiaries of large overseas entities, and working with large, consolidated groups.

In his spare time, Nat enjoys spending time with his wife and four children and proudly supporting Leeds United F.C.

Daniel joined Lopian Gross Barnett as a director in 2019, having moved from a regional firm in which he was a partner.

He provides a comprehensive and hands-on service to his clients and has spent his career servicing a wide range of sectors; this wide range of experience means he is equally able to advise business start-ups, family-owned/managed businesses, and multinational organisations.

His specialist areas include:

• VAT
• Tax on property developments
• Research and development tax credits
• EMI share options
• SEIS and EIS reliefs

As the leader of the firm’s cloud accounting team, Daniel is an expert in advising clients on how best to switch from manual records onto Xero and other software providers in order to ensure that they are VAT Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliant and can easily access up-to-date financial information. 

In his spare time, Daniel enjoys spending time with his wife and two children and serving as Director of the Delamere Charitable Trust which provides funding for children with special educational needs.