Meet the team

Sarah Hamilton FCA CTA

Partner

Sarah was educated at the Girls High School in Colchester before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with BDO in Norwich in 1987. After two years working with BDO in Hong Kong Sarah returned in 1989, married Edwin, and began working for her father, Richard Sexton, in the practice he established and which he was devoted to for over 40 years until his sad passing in 2006. Shortly before the birth of the first of three children in 1991 Sarah passed the Chartered Institute of Tax exams and was made a partner in 1994. Sarah has a real interest in tax, finance and governance issues especially in family and owner managed businesses where taking an intelligent strategic view sensitive to personal circumstances is so important.

You might meet Sarah’s dog at the office as she is an animal lover with more than a few ponies and other creatures to look after, whilst enjoying being part of the rural community involved in village life.

Ken Simpson ACA

Partner

Ken grew up in Yorkshire and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Spicer & Oppenheim in Leeds in 1989. He worked within two independent medium sized practices before moving to Suffolk in 1999 just after the birth of his twins – believing this to be a lovely part of the world for them to spend their childhood.

Ken joined Richard Sexton & Co LLP. in June 1999 and became a partner in 2001 – specialising in limited company accounts and taxation but aiming to provide an all-round tax and accounting service to his clients covering personal, corporate and capital issues. He enjoys the personal contact with clients, and being useful in advising them in developing their businesses.

Outside work he has always followed numerous sports and has a keen interest in history and music – which he has attempted to impart to his children with varying degrees of success.

Sophie Warner CTA ATT

Partner

Sophie joined Richard Sexton & Co LLP in 1993. Sophie passed her Chartered Institute of Taxation exams in 1999. In April 2019, Sophie took the role of Associate Partner before becoming a member of the LLP in April 2022.

Sophie has practical experience in many aspects of accounts and taxation over a wide scope of business types and individuals. She particularly likes keeping up to date with the many changes in the accounting world and is now an advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Sophie can also offer accounting software support for Xero, Sage and Farmplan.

She enjoys advising clients on all aspects of tax planning and helping clients with practical aspects of running their business.

Away from work she passes many hours watching various sports but especially cricket and football. Sophie likes to keep fit by attending the gym, running and going for long walks. In the summer Sophie likes to spend time playing golf and paddle boarding.

Pauline Goldsmith FCCA

Pauline joined Richard Sexton & Co LLP in June 2016. She qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2013 with Newsquest.

Pauline has practical experience in preparing accounts and Tax Returns for businesses and individuals.  Pauline also provides support with VAT returns and payroll.  Pauline can also assist clients with Quickbooks, Sage and Xero cloud accounting software.

In her spare time she enjoys Pilates, reading, swimming and yoga.

Michelle Lagdon

Michelle joined Richard Sexton & Co LLP in September 2015 as secretarial and admin support after a 7 year break from work to raise a family of three children.

Now that two of her children are fully grown and at university, she enjoys travelling with her daughter and partner and has recently been converted to enjoying camping in fields at music festivals.

Matt Schofield

Matt joined Richard Sexton & Co in July 2022 having previously worked in various accountancy practices around Essex and Suffolk since leaving college in 2006. He achieved his AAT qualification in 2009 and has lots of experience in preparing accounts and tax returns for owner managed limited companies, partnerships and sole traders and is proficient in using many types of accounting software including Sage, QuickBooks and Xero.

 

Matt is a big football fan and can regularly be found watching Colchester United lose, or playing a game of five-a-side. He also loves music and attends many concerts and festivals, albeit a lot fewer these days since becoming a father of two.

Joel Simpson

Joel joined the firm in July 2020 as an Admin Assistant before deciding to start studying to be a Chartered Accountant in September 2021. Before joining Richard Sexton & Co LLP, he studied Quantity Surveying at the University of Reading.

When not in work he enjoys following various sports, including football and basketball, as well as playing some such as hockey where he played for the university’s team. His other interests include looking after his small energetic dog at home and buying too many shoes.

Louise Worby ACA CTA

Louise joined Richard Sexton & Co LLP having trained as a Chartered Accountant in London at Big Four firm EY. She moved back  to Colchester in 2019 to follow in the footsteps of her Mother and Grandfather by joining Richard Sexton & Co LLP. Since working for the firm Louise has passed her Chartered Institute of Tax exams, taking advanced technical papers specialising in the taxation of Individuals and Owner Managed Businesses. She is also a QuickBooks Pro Adviser and Certified Xero adviser, and is able to offer accounting software support for Farmplan and Sage.

Louise has a real interest in strategic tax and family financial planning issues, and aims to provide clear and considered advice to enable clients successfully to develop their business interests. She regularly assists a variety of entities and individuals with their day to day accountancy and taxation affairs, and is developing a wide ranging  skill set to support clients across all aspects from start ups through to succession planning.

Louise was Head Girl at CCHS in Colchester, and has a degree in  Accounting and Finance from  the London School of Economics and Political Science. Wedding plans for June 2020 were thwarted by Covid but happily Louise and Matthew were able to hold a very small wedding in St Martin in the Fields church in October 2020 and is now a Mum of two.

Louise has inherited a family love of animals and you may encounter her podengo with her at the office.

Lucy Wildash

Lucy joined the firm in January 2022 and is AAT qualified with 5 years’ experience working in local practices in the Colchester area. She enjoys many aspects of accountancy particularly preparation of accounts and tax returns for sole traders as well as processing and reviewing VAT return and bookkeeping data.  Lucy is a Certified Xero Adviser and QuickBooks Advanced Pro Advisor who is always happy to offer support for these or other accountancy packages.

In her spare time, when she isn’t hard at work studying for her Chartered Certified qualification, Lucy frequents many rock gigs, goes to the gym and spends countless hours in front of her laptop screen.

Jonathan Yu ACCA

Jonathan joined the firm in 2018 after 5 years experience in practice. He is qualified as a Chartered Certified accountant, and graduated from Sheffield University. Jonathan is experienced in dealing with all aspects of accounts and tax for individuals and owner managed businesses. He is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and is able to assist clients with QuickBooks, Sage, and Xero cloud accounting packages.

When not engrossed in a computer screen Jonathan might be found wall climbing or in the gym. He also spends time visiting his parents who have recently returned to the wilds of Norfolk.