Carpenter Box to host open evening for aspiring accountants and tax professionals

Carpenter Box is inviting anyone considering a career in accountancy or tax to its Trainee Scheme Open Evening on Tuesday 11th November at the firm’s head office in Worthing. Whether you're exploring new career options or ready to take your first step into the profession, the event offers valuable insights for those aiming to start in 2026.

With offices in Worthing, Brighton, Crawley, Lewes, Chichester and Portsmouth, Carpenter Box attracts trainees from across the South East, making this event ideal for anyone based in or near these areas.

During the evening, attendees will:

·        Discover the different pathways into accountancy, tax and business advisory roles
·        Learn more about Carpenter Box’s award-winning trainee scheme
·        Chat with current trainees and qualified team members to hear first-hand about their experiences
·        Meet representatives from both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to explore qualification routes.

The Carpenter Box HR team will be available to offer practical CV and interview tips for those applying to trainee roles.

As Sussex’s leading accountancy training firm, Carpenter Box welcomed a record 27 new trainees over the past 12 months, including 12 who joined in September 2025. This brings the total number of trainees to 57, making up more than 20% of the firm’s 270-strong workforce.

Refreshments will be available, and the event runs from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Amelia House, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 1RL. To reserve a free place or learn more, visit www.carpenterbox.com/open-evening

Shake It Up Creative celebrates 10 years in business!

Shake It Up Creative, the Worthing-based marketing and web company sprang into life in September 2015 with a launch party at (the then named) Rockinghorse Cocktail Bar.  Rachael Dines was made redundant from her software marketing role whilst pregnant in 2009 but managed to complete a UK Trade & Investment Scholarship trip to Chicago and become Chartered before her notice period ended.  She went on to work as a freelance marketer for six years - her first contract was handling PR for an independent hotel group.  Feeling ambitious, she then wanted the next step and co-founded the micro agency to deliver a range of creative services to businesses and non-profits.  She has now led the company alone but with a team underneath her, for over five years, taking it to new heights both financially and with the client roster.  Recent achievements include:

• Winning a Web Excellence Award for Web Design
• Delivery of the largest value contract the business has had in its history in 2024
• Helping to launch the West Sussex Growth Hub
• Finalist for Best Promotional Campaign at the national Independent Agency Awards 2025
• Finalist for Sussex Entrepreneur Award 2025
• Rachael was selected to sit on the West Sussex Economic Growth Board
• Rachael has been selected to speak at the Marketing Profs B2B Forum in Boston, USA, this November

Sectors of strength for Shake It Up Creative are arts & culture, hospitality, and charity, however the company also work with West Sussex County Council and organisations in other industries.  The business has also proudly provided hundreds of pro bono calls to startups, small businesses and non-profits since it launched ten years ago.

Rachael said “Naturally there have been highs and lows, but I am so proud that we are still standing and continue to deliver valuable work across the county and beyond. Being a business owner requires strength, resilience and innovation and sometimes it can feel hard to find all of those things. Having the support of other Chamber members has been invaluable and I love being a part of this community.  I can’t wait to see what we can achieve in the next decade”

Electric Storm Youth Calls for Community Votes to get a share of Tesco’s Stronger Starts Fund

Electric Storm Youth is asking for crucial community support to secure a grant of up to £1,500 from the Tesco Stronger Starts scheme. The funding would directly support the provision of fun and educational youth sessions during the school holidays. This will provide families with access to safe and affordable activities for young people aged 10 to 18 in the local area.

Stronger Starts provides grant awards of up to £1,500 to local community projects with a particular focus on children and young people. Three groups in every community have been shortlisted to receive grant awards, and Tesco customers can vote for the group they think should take away the top award in their local Tesco store.

Electric Storm Youth is one of the groups on the shortlist in Tesco stores across Worthing, and Durrington.

If successful, this funding will be used to run a range of engaging and supportive activities for young people aged 10-18 during the school holidays. The goal is to ensure young people in the local area can easily access opportunities that help them build skills, confidence, and positive peer relationships.

ESY also provides essential services like mental health support and young carers programmes alongside term time and holiday sessions. This grant is specifically focused on boosting the school holidays activities timetable, ensuring these vital social and developmental opportunities are available to everyone.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be shortlisted for the Tesco Stronger Starts grant," said Karen Jefford, CEO. "Funding from this grant would enable us to ramp up the range of activities that we offer local young people. For us, this is about investing in creating memorable experiences, encouraging young people to try new things, get out in their local community and make new friends. We urge everyone to use their blue tokens to help us keep providing these positive opportunities."

Voting is open in all Tesco stores from October 2025 until mid-January 2026. Customers will cast their vote using a blue token given to them at the check-out each time they shop. We urge everyone shopping at the Worthing and Durrington Tesco stores to please drop their blue token in the box for Electric Storm Youth.

Tesco’s Stronger Starts – previously known as Tesco Bags of Help and Tesco Community Grants - has already provided over £123 million to more than 69,000 projects across Britain.

This £5m Stronger Starts grant programme, delivered in partnership with charity Groundwork, helps schools and children’s groups provide nutritious food and healthy activities that support young people’s physical health and mental wellbeing, such as breakfast clubs or snacks, and sports equipment for after school clubs.

Graham Duxbury, Groundwork’s UK Chief Executive, said: “As a community charity, we have seen first-hand how schools and other groups supporting young people have been playing a much bigger role in ensuring children are getting a healthy start to the day and getting access to spaces and services to support physical activity and mental health. Family budgets are tight and school budgets are tight, but it’s so important that children stay fed, fit and focused, so we’re delighted to be able to prioritise these activities alongside Tesco with the Stronger Starts programme.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities, particularly those helping to provide food and giving children the support they need for a good start in life. To find out more visit tescoplc.com/strongerstarts.

Kreston Reeves named as one of the eprivateclient Top Accountancy firms, 2025

Accountants, business and wealth advisers Kreston Reeves have been named as one of the 2025 eprivateclient Top Accountancy Firms.

eprivateclient is the leading website and news service for private client practitioners, including lawyers, accountants, trustees and fee-based IFAs. The eprivateclient ranking for accountancy firms is an annual list of the best UK tax advisory firms who provide advice to domestic and international private clients, their families and their businesses.

Daniel Grainge, Partner and Head of Tax at Kreston Reeves comments: “Once again we are incredibly proud to receive this accolade from such a highly regarded industry body. Making it onto this list means our whole team has been recognised for the quality of advice, depth of knowledge and breadth of expertise we provide to our clients. The impending changes to inheritance tax that will affect business and land owners highlight the importance of high-quality tax advice to ensure wealth is preserved for future generations. I would like to thank our whole team as it is their hard work which has enabled us to receive this accolade.”

Simon Levine, Solicitor, Partner and Joint Head of Legal Services at Kreston Reeves comments: “This is a very special accolade and our whole team should feel enormously pleased. Over the last 12 months the team have been working hard with our clients to help them navigate the fast moving and significantly changing financial landscape to build the best future for their family, the generations to follow and their businesses.”

The team at Kreston Reeves will be celebrating the accolade at a champagne reception at EFG Private Bank, London on 23 October 2025.

About Kreston Reeves

Our purpose is to guide our clients, colleagues, and communities to a brighter future. We help businesses, charity and not-for-profit organisations, private individuals, and families with more than accountancy, business, and wealth advice. We help them realise their ambitions.

Disaster Recovery: A business-critical priority for UK organisations

In 2025, a string of industry giants were subject to sophisticated cyber attacks that dominated the UK headlines and resulted in major repercussions. These incidents show that not even household names are immune to the risk of modern threats. While large organisations may grab the headlines, attackers often turn their sights to smaller businesses – exploiting weaker defences and causing financial damage that can be just as severe.

As a result, a robust disaster recovery policy is not optional – it is vital. Disaster recovery (DR) is a vital element of operational resilience. It involves a structured approach to restoring IT systems after a disruptive event, whether this has been caused by a cyber-attack, hardware failure, or human error. Without a disaster recovery strategy in place, downtime can lead to serious financial, legal and reputational damage.

The risks of no disaster recovery plan

Organisations without a disaster recovery plan face a range of critical risks:

• ·       Permanent data loss:
• Business-critical data including customer records, financial information, and operational files may be unrecoverable if systems fail without a plan in place.
• ·       Extended downtime:
  Prolonged outages halts operations which impacts customer experience. The longer the downtime, the greater the financial and reputational damage.
• ·       In breach of compliance:
  Legislation such as the UK Data Protection Act (2018) requires organisations to have breach response protocols. Failure to comply can result in sizeable fines.
• ·       Loss of customer trust:
  Clients expect reliability. Repeated or prolonged outages can erode confidence and lead to customer dissatisfaction.
• ·       Business closure:
  Research conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance shows that nearly 60% of small businesses close within six months of a cyber attack.

With an active disaster recovery plan, your business can ensure continuity, data integrity, and compliance; empowering secure, uninterrupted operations across hybrid environments.

Tailored solutions from FluidOne

At FluidOne, our team will work closely with you to design and implement disaster recovery plans that reflect your operational needs and risk profile. We offer a full suite of solutions from including cloud-based backups and intelligent monitoring to secure connectivity, ensuring business continuity and data integrity.

Businesses that invest in DR are better positioned to recover quickly, maintain service levels, and minimise disruption. For more information, you can call us call 01273 384 100 or email brighton@fluidone.com to get in touch with our experts today and find out how we can help protect your business.

Baked Worthing Christmas Gift Guide

Check out their tasty gift ideas and start shopping! Get in touch with them today! 

We would love to help you treat your team, clients and customers this Christmas.  Simply let us know what you’re looking for (the gift type, number of gifts, delivery/collection) and we can put together the perfect package for you.

Email hello@bakedworthing.co.uk or call us on 01903 216343.

You can download their brochure here

Link to Hope Shoebox Appeal

Local charity and chamber member Link to Hope has launched its 2025 annual Shoebox Appeal. For nearly 35 years this locally based charity had delivered thousands of shoeboxes filled with gifts to people facing poverty, displacement, and injustice across Eastern Europe, including Ukraine. These shoeboxes are filled by businesses, organisations, schools, churches and individuals.  The charity sent out nearly 26,000 shoeboxes from Ferring last year alone.

The charity supports a wide range of education and social care projects as well as humanitarian aid projects throughout the year. For the last three years in particular, the focus has been on supporting communities affected by the war in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in neighbouring countries as well as Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania.

The national deadline is 7th November, but local supporters can drop shoeboxes off at one of Link to Hope’s five local shops in Littlehampton, Goring, Chapel Road and Rustington or their Ferring office until the 28th November. To take part, please register on their website at https://linktohope.co.uk/shoebox-appeal-2025/

Pilbeam Construction replaces leaking roof at Grade II Listed Brighton church

The leaking roof of a Grade II Listed church in Brighton will be replaced by Pilbeam Construction just in time for Christmas.  

Work is already underway at St Mary’s Church in Surrenden Road where the expert team is installing a new watertight roof and redecorating the interiors which have suffered water damage.

Pilbeam Construction is set to complete the £700,000 project by the start of December, which will give the congregation a more comfortable space to meet when work is complete.

Alan Corbett, managing director at Pilbeam Construction, based in Southwick, West Sussex, said: “Our team have a lot of experience with restoring churches, so this was the perfect job for our specialists to come to the rescue.

“The roof at St Mary’s was in desperate need of repairs and we’re looking forward to visitors enjoying their restored church soon in more comfort.”

Pilbeam started work on the church near Preston Park in July. The roof will benefit from new slate, tiles and felt and batten. Leadwork, gutters, downpipes and fascia will be replaced too.

The team will also repair or replace masonry where needed and will carry out drainage surveys to identify the causes of internal and external flooding, then fix it.

Internally the Roman Catholic church, originally built in 1910 in the Arts and Crafts style of Gothic Revival architecture, has suffered from water damage.

The team is replastering and redecorating using cherry pickers to access the ceilings which, at their tallest, are around 50ft high.

Other problem areas have included the roof over the baptism font, where buckets had been deployed during heavy rain.

Meanwhile the stations of the cross were damaged by water ingress and the stained-glass windows have suffered from corrosion.

Challenges with the project include working around church activities and a nursery at the back of the church.

Father Sebastian Kijak from St Mary’s Church said: “We have been relying on patchwork fixes and careful maintenance for years, but we’ve now decided a full restoration can no longer be delayed.

“The team at Pilbeam have worked around us so we could continue with our usual activities.

“The total cost of the project is nearly £1 million and we’ve already set aside £500,000. However, we’re appealing for donations to complete our restoration.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors to our much-improved church very soon.”

To find out more about donating to the church roof fund visit: https://www.brightonstmary.com/

For more information please visit:

https://www.pilbeamconstruction.co.uk/

Carpenter Box invests in future talent with record 27 new trainee appointments 

Leading Sussex and Hampshire accountancy firm Carpenter Box has welcomed a record 27 new trainee accountants, tax and business advisers over the past 12 months, with 12 joining in September. This brings the total number of trainees at the firm to 57, more than 20% of its 270-strong workforce. 

The new starters are based across Carpenter Box’s offices in Worthing, Gatwick, Brighton, Chichester and Portsmouth, joining a range of specialist teams including Audit, Tax, Business Services, Outsourced Finance and StarBox, the firm’s dedicated service for digital entrepreneurs and content creators. 

The 27 new starters are spread across five of the firm’s seven offices, with 11 based in Worthing, seven in Gatwick, and three each in Brighton, Chichester and Portsmouth. They are strengthening a wide range of specialist teams, including 11 in Audit, six in Business Services, four in Tax, four in StarBox and two in Outsourced Finance. 

Carpenter Box Managing Partner, Alan Edwards, who began his own career as a trainee at the firm, commented: “Investing in emerging talent is central to our long-term success. We’re proud that over a fifth of our people are trainees, and we’re committed to giving them the very best start in their careers. Our training provision has earned ‘Approved Employer’ and ‘Platinum’ status, and we will continue to build on this as we support the next generation of accountants, tax and business advisers.” 

Carpenter Box offers a range of professional qualification pathways, including the ACA, ACCA, CIMA and CTA, reflecting the diverse career ambitions of its trainees. The firm also runs annual open evenings to connect with future recruits and showcase the opportunities available across its offices. 

Carpenter Box is hosting its next Trainee Scheme Open Evening on Tuesday 11th November 2025 for anyone interested in exploring a career within finance. To register visit https://www.carpenterbox.com/event/trainee-scheme-open-evening/ 

www.carpenterbox.com 

A24 Worthing to Horsham and Dorking Transport Improvements - have your say!

The Transport Teams at West Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council are seeking views on potential transport improvements along the A24 corridor between Worthing, Horsham and Dorking.  'The comments we receive will help identify key constraints, issues, and opportunities that will be used to shape our plans for the corridor and enable us to seek future funding opportunities.'

The area covered by the engagement exercise includes the A24 from the A25 Dorking Deepdene roundabout and nearby railway stations in Dorking, to Horsham, and to the A27 Offington Roundabout in Worthing. The area also includes the A280 Long Furlong between the A27 at Clapham and A24 at Findon because of the importance of this link in connecting the A27 with the A24.

Improvements

The types of improvements that being considered along the A24 corridor include:

• junction capacity improvements

• bus priority and bus stop improvements

• walking and cycling path improvements

• crossing facilities for people walking, cycling and horse-riding

• road safety improvements including junction modifications, safety barriers and speed limit changes

Have your say

You can find out more about these suggested improvements by visiting https://yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/A24-worthing-horsham-dorking where you can also have your say by completing our questionnaire and commenting on an interactive map. This initial engagement period will close at 11:55pm on 27 October 2025.

'Proposals for the corridor are at an early stage of development, so we would like to hear from people and organisations who may be affected by the improvements we are considering to help us to develop the designs. If we decide to progress the improvements, these designs would then be presented as part of future consultations.'