Meet the expert – Paul Strutt

Paul Strutt joined Kreston Reeves in 1997 as a trainee, first working in the Margate and then Ramsgate offices before moving to the Canterbury office in 2000. He works with a significant portfolio of clients including charities and not for profit organisations, as well as businesses across a range of sectors. 

Paul is an experienced charity specialist accountant, and he is able to provide pro-active advice and guidance to charities and not for profit organisations drawn from his detailed knowledge and experience of the sector.

Paul explains “Given my clients are likely to be based anywhere across the south east or indeed across the world I have a really interesting variety of work each day, so it really is true that one day is different to the next. With my charity clients for example I might be advising on charity formations and registration with the Charity Commission, drafting charity constitutions or advising on the potential structures of the organisation which is looking at restructuring. I also advise on governance issues and then all the specific tax and VAT issues that crop up as well as the more general financial management of a charity so financial systems and controls, internal financial reporting, budgets and cashflows. I have also assisted clients who are dealing with financial difficulties which may result in the closure of the organisation and distributing assets.”

Paul works with a lot of arts charities and is also well known for his work in the creative media and technology sector which thrives in Kent and in Canterbury in particular. Kent is emerging as one of the leading creative hubs in the country with 7,000 businesses located in the county already and 1,500 of which have relocated to Kent in the last five years.

Paul explains “Kent is attractive to creative businesses for many reasons and we have many clients in the sector due to our knowledge and our office locations in Kent and also London and Brighton where there are many creative hubs. It’s an exciting sector to work with. Due to the depth of my knowledge by working with different sectors and different businesses I know I can really ‘get under the bonnet’ of an organisation and provide them with the advice they need to help them achieve their goals and objectives. I especially enjoy working with them over a long period to help them to do this.

All clients are currently getting to grips with the changes announced in the October Budget and this is increasing their costs. For charities in particular this is a challenge because they might be dependent on local government for their funding for service provision, but these budgets have been hit hard. If they are lucky, the funding remains the same level, but the charity’s own costs have now gone up with the rise in national insurance, the national living wage and more generally due to higher inflation. It’s a difficult balancing act for many of them.”

Outside of the office Paul is a huge sports and travel fan and if he can combine the two, he is very happy.

“I managed to spend time at the Paris Olympics last year and saw a number of different sporting events including the football. I’m a huge football fan and have a season ticket to Tottenham Hotspur. When I can, I also travel to their overseas games, which is huge fun. I always bump into the same crowd and there is a good atmosphere. I also love travelling to the major European cities. Paris and Madrid are favourites, but I also discovered Rome recently and that is a fantastic city. Next on my list is Vienna and I’d love to go to the Scandinavian countries, so Copenhagen and Stockholm are high up on the list.”

Paul has also put his skills to good use in his spare time as a volunteer with his local Credit Union, where he chaired the supervisory committee and helped to oversee and improve its operations. 

If you would like to get in touch with Paul, you can visit his personal profile here.