Who we are

Meet our dedicated and experienced accounting team:

We like to think of ourselves as more than ‘just accountants’

We are a firm of Xero accountants that will work with you to help you succeed.

Whilst we are serious about keeping clients compliant with HMRC we also work with businesses to maximise their potential.

Carrie Stokes

Director

Carrie is the founder and Director of Spotlight. With over 20 years experience both in practice and industry. Training with a top 6 accountancy practice, before moving into industry running the finance department of a large group of companies. Carrie started her own private practice and has a 12 year proven record of working with businesses to help them grow. Highlights of this journey have been travelling to Cyprus assisting a client in a sale of shares in an international property business, working on a technical paper for a high profile celebrity court case and working with a domiciliary care company from implementation of reporting through to its eventual sale. Carrie is married to Neil with two children Will & Lucy. In her spare time, she enjoys running (is forever chasing her PB) and loves nothing more than popping open a bottle of Prosecco to enjoy with family and friends.

Emma Oliver

Client Manager

Emma is an ACCA qualified accountant who joined the practice in January 2020. Emma has experience in both working for other accountancy firms and in company accounts departments so has an understanding from both sides. Emma brings to the team a background of wide experience including Solicitors, Charity and Estate Agent Audits. Emma and her partner Russell have three girls, Lily, Freya and Brooke, Emma likes reading and time spent socialising with family and friends.

Claire Bailey

Client Accountant

Claire is our Client Accountant, joining Spotlight after working in the finance department for a national retail chain. Claire worked with independent franchisees working with them in managing their finances. Claire is married with 2 young children, Georgia & Erin. In her spare time, Claire likes holidays, socialising with friends and eating out.

Gemma Parker

Client Accountant

Gemma is a Client Accountant, who joined Spotlight after working in the Finance Department for a local landed estate. Gemma has spent the last 10 years working in Finance Departments for a number of different industry sectors including social housing, financial services and hospitality technology. In her spare time Gemma enjoys traveling, reading, watching the latest films and socialising with friends and family. She is also learning Italian to practice on her travels.

Sally Cassidy

PA to Carrie Stokes

Sally started her career at the Bank of Scotland as a customer Advisor. She quickly progressed to a branch manager. Moving then into a PA role for a managing director of a healthcare company before then starting her family. She has worked with Spotlight Accounting since November 2020 as Carrie’s PA. In her spare time you can find her at the beach with her partner and two little girls, Olivia 4 and Poppy 2, doing a bit of retail therapy or catching up with friends over coffee.

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Our Accounting Reviews

I have been a client of Carrie's for several years now and have received excellent service. Advice on both personal and business taxation matters is always proactive, so there is time to implement it. Carrie and her team are also readily available to answer any queries regarding accounting software or dealing with HMRC. Highly recommended as an efficient and responsive accountant.

We have been using Spotlight Accounting Limited and the services they provide since starting my business. We use Carrie in a number of ways. She is an expert in her field and makes my life so much easier and less scary when it comes to everything she does for my business. I treat Carrie as a consultant to my business rather than just an accountant. Her knowledge of the latest Technology and Apps available to help me reduce my time is fantastic. Using Spotlight Accounting Limited enables me to be with my customers more and make my business more successful, more productive and ultimately more profitable. I treat Carrie as a consultant to my business rather than just an accountant. Her knowledge of the latest Technology and Apps available to help me reduce my time is fantastic. Using Spotlight Accounting Limited enables me to be with my customers more and make my business more successful, more productive and ultimately more profitable.

Carrie's help has been really valuable in helping me to navigate the tax and accountancy issues of a sole trader business. She's right at the cutting edge of helping her clients deal with 'making tax digital', and her service is always friendly, helpful and responsive. I treat Carrie as a consultant to my business rather than just an accountant. Her knowledge of the latest Technology and Apps available to help me reduce my time is fantastic. Using Spotlight Accounting Limited enables me to be with my customers more and make my business more successful, more productive and ultimately more profitable.

Carrie & Team go above and beyond; there was something I needed sorting, and they took away the stress and delivered a great service. They were recommended, and I'm so happy I used them. I can't wait to grow my business with an accounts team that go that extra mile that make the service feel really personable.

As a business owner, Carrie has made my life so easy. I often find when you work with accountants or technical people, they talk at you, in their own language and seem shocked when you don't understand! Carrie explains things in plain English, making it easy to understand what needs to be done and why. I cannot recommend her highly enough.

Carrie was invaluable in the process of starting up my business. I will always recommend Carrie to anybody needing assistance with their accounts, and her knowledge and expertise in making a business thrive really are second to none.