Policies

Data Protection Policy

The General Data Protection Regulations (”GDPR”) come in to force on 25th May 2018. In response to this a copy of our Data Protection Policy, which will be reviewed (and if nescessary, revised) on a regular basis. Can be found here.

Complaints Policy

We aim to give you the service you want and pay for and we have a professional duty under our Institute bye-laws to inform you of our complaints procedure and to investigate any complaint you may make. It is also in our best interests to ensure that the service we provide is as good as it can be.

If at any time you would like to discuss with us how our service could be improved or if you are in any way dissatisfied with the service you are receiving. The sorts of grievance you may have and which can be investigated are:

Delays in work being completed.
Failure to respond to correspondence.
Allegations of poor work and/or advice.
Fees being higher than you would expect.
Failure to perform the service requested.

In the first instance please raise the matter with the person you normally deal with at the firm. If they are unable to resolve the matter on a timely basis to your satisfaction, please let us know by contacting:

James Eyre-Walker
Winton House
Stoke Road
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffs.
Tel: 01782 848838
Fax: 01782 744572

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Normally, he will investigate your complaint, but if your complaint is in respect of him, he may appoint another director or, with your permission, his alternate (Mr Andrew Riley at A Wood & Co. LLP) to investigate the matter. You will be provided you with a written report on their findings and the proposed course of action that the firm can and/or will take. This report will generally confirm either a telephone call or meeting at which the report and findings will be discussed with you.

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the partner’s investigation, the investigator will let you know how to take your grievance further by referring it to the appropriate department of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Testimonial Policy

We actively solicit feedback from clients including testimonials as regards our staff and services. We may use such testimonials in our marketing of services to existing and prospective clients. In doing so, we undertake to:

  • Only use testimonials with your express permission;
  • To remove any testimonial from any marketing literature or other media within a reasonable time on request.
  • Not use any testimonial in a context for which it was not intended.

Recruitment Policy

We aim to recruit team members that best fit the requirements of the post being advertised and to do so without any discrimination on the grounds of sex, age, disability, sexuality, colour or creed.

Whenever we identify a need for an additional team member we will:

  • Draft a job specification;
  • Draft a person specification;
  • Advertise the vacancy on our website;
  • Examine speculative applications (see below) received in the last six months for potential candidates (who we will then contact to apply for the vacancy);
  • Utilise other channels to promote the vacancy to potentially interested parties.

There will be a closing date for applications (and a projected timetable for the whole recruitment process). Applications will only be accepted on the terms specified in the vacancy notice.

On receipt, applications will be separated from personal details. In the case of our application form, this will involve referencing the pages of the application and removing the front page. Candidates will then be assessed against the person specification.

We will normally interview no more than 10 candidates for a post. Interviews will be conducted against a bank of questions derived from the job and person specifications. Candidates may also be required to undertake one or more skills tests, psychometric tests etc.

Evaluation of candidates will be as objective as possible – including scoring against the requirements of the job and person. The post will be awarded to the highest scoring candidate. All candidates will be notified of the progress of their application at all stages of the process.

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Speculative Applications

We rarely recruit on the basis of speculative applications, simply because we create vacancies where there is a staffing need. We will accept speculative applications. We will acknowledge them and then retain them on file for a period of six months only. In the event that a vacancy arises we will review all speculative applications still on file and if potentially suited to the post, contact the applicant and advise them as to how to apply for the vacancy. This will normally involve them completing the application form, if only so that personal details can be detached from the other relevant information upon which an objective assessment of the application can be made without regard to any potentially discriminatory information.