An Introduction to Ward Williams Creatives

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What do Ward Williams Creative do?

We are a firm of chartered accountants, who have a passion for helping our clients grow through sound financial assistance and advice. More than that, we have a passion for working alongside people who spend their lives creating and innovating. This passion led our director, Erin Walls, to create this specialist side to the business, thereby allowing us to tailor our offering to the specific needs of the Creative sector.

What do you mean by the Creative industry?

The clients that we work with operate in a wide range of fields, from TV, film and video game production to photography, from website design and management to textile makers and fashion designers. The Creative industry encompasses all of these and more. Essentially, it covers anyone working in a field that requires to human creativity to further their work.

Why the Creative industry?

Put simply, it is the clients that we encounter in this industry that we enjoy working with. Our clients treat their work as a part of themselves, constantly switched on to new ways to create and deliver content. We need to match that enthusiasm and drive – the clients are constantly challenging you to keep up with them and this excites us and gives up the energy to work alongside them. Whilst each and every client we have comes from a different background, has a different story to tell, they are all universally united by one common element – the bravery to take a risk and create something. Here at Ward Williams Creative, we think this is an excellent outlook on life and we try to use our particular skill set (which in of itself is not something that you would align with the Creative industry) to assist these people where we can.

You market yourselves as accountants and tax advisors for the Creative industry but is there any real difference between you and a regular firm of accountants?

It’s a good question to ask, as the qualifications that we have in terms of the accountancy profession are those that you would see with other accountancy firms.

What sets us apart, however, is the experience that we have working alongside individuals in this particular industry. The energy and enthusiasm that I mentioned earlier works wonderfully well in the field that our clients excel in but it can be sometimes difficult to move that across to financial matters. We have a proven track record of working with clients in a way that helps them understand their financial affairs, laying it out for them in jargon free language and allowing them to have the confidence that this side of their business is being taken care of. We are keen to take a holistic approach to each individual client’s affairs to help them achieve their goals.

In addition, we have extensive knowledge of the tax reliefs that can be obtained by the creators and innovators that are our clients.

What types of tax reliefs are you referring to?

Owners of Limited Companies have a wide range of tax reliefs available to them, specifically designed for start up businesses (Enterprise Investment Scheme & Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) and businesses whom seek to research or develop an advance in their field (Research & Development tax relief). The reliefs that I have mentioned have proved to be very important to our clients.

In addition, there are further tax reliefs aimed specifically at those within the Creative industry – the so called, Creative Industry tax reliefs. These cover a wide range of sectors, from film & TV through to video game production.

There isn’t widespread coverage of these Creative Industry tax reliefs so it is easy for people to miss them and miss out on the benefits that they offer.

Is it just Limited Companies and their directors that you work with then?

Not at all. Whilst we have an extensive portfolio of Limited Companies, we also work alongside a lot of sole trade freelancers. Given this, we are ideally placed to advise a client on the merits of operating via the various different structures that are available.

There are numerous considerations to be looked at, such as: Cost – Limited Companies are more expensive to operate; Tax efficiencies – would the tax benefits outweigh the additional administrative expenses; Customers / suppliers – would they prefer to work with a Limited Company structure (some feel this offers more credibility); Limited liability – a Limited Company can offer you limited liability.

When advising clients we would take all of these factors into account and work with them to move forward in the best possible way.

Where is Ward Williams Creative based?

The business operates from offices in Weybridge, Ascot, Bracknell, Uxbridge and London (Liverpool Street).

Office locations

How can people get in touch?

For further information on Ward Williams Creative and the service that are on offer, please contact Tom Kirk or Erin Walls on 0203 858 0127