Residence London, England Occupation Businessman Name Howard Graham Education University of Salford | Nationality British Spouse(s) Lesley Graham Role Accountant | |
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Born 1959 London, England | ||
Howard Graham BSc FCA FIoD FPC is an accountant, entrepreneur, and businessman.
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Biography
After qualifying with top-20 firm Clark Whitehill in 1983 as an accountant, Graham joined Westbury Accountants in 1985, where he has remained since, becoming a partner in 1987. Graham is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and also a member of the IT faculty. He managed the practice's financial-services division, during which time he successfully completed the FPC qualification. Graham founded The Made Simple Group in 2002 for which he became a finalist of "Business Person of the Year" in 2007. Graham is actively involved in the local business community – being a founding member of Clerkenwell BNI – and also a regular speaker at business events, having regularly appeared on the "Midas Touch" panel at the Business Start up Show with "Dragons" Peter Jones and Rachel Elnaugh. Graham also readily shares his experiences with start-up businesses on the BBC's Small Business Panel of Experts.
Westbury Accountants
Westbury Accountants offer accountancy services across a range of industry verticals; Corporate, Art, Charity, Retail and Restaurants and Catering. Clients have included Pizza Express; KFC; Masterchef's Gregg Wallace
Graham's main area of professional involvement has been in the area of financial and business development; focusing on strategy and planning. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Faculty of Information Technology and also holds the Financial Planning Certificate from the Chartered Insurance Institute.
The Made Simple Group
MSG is home to a range of business entities dedicated to providing online business solutions to the start-up and small business communities. Founded in the UK in 2002, the MSG strategy is to deliver low-cost effective products and services to the start up and small business communities throughout Europe. There are now in excess of 11 websites within the group. The Made Simple Group was awarded ' Best Use of the Internet' by Accountancy Age in 2006.
The Made Simple Group and Google
The Made Simple Group joined Google Adwords as a co-marketing partner in 2007. For Graham, the appeal of using Google Adwords to a Chartered Accountant was obvious; it allowed him to grow his business online while measuring the revenue spent and generated. As Graham increasingly recognised the incremental value Ad words had added to his business, he decided to extend his partnership with Google further; offering every new company formed an Ad words Voucher As recognition of the innovative way Graham has integrated Ad word's into his broader marketing strategy, Google made the Made Simple Group a case study in September 2007. and Graham believes there is a lot more the Made Simple Group and Google can do together: I believe there is a lot more we can do together, and I look forward to expanding the Adword's vouchers into other services throughout of sites in the near future.
Gregg's Veg
Graham co-founded Secrett’s Direct and Gregg's Veg -a fruit and vegetable website and farm – with Gregg Wallace of Masterchef fame. Gregg's Veg supplies fruit and vegetables to the hotel and restaurant industry – including Le Caprice, Le Gavroche and Gordon Ramsay at Hospital Road
Wallace & Co
Howard Graham is a director and founding shareholder in conjunction with Justin Carter and Vernon Mascarenhas together with Gregg Wallace of MasterChef fame in a new venture Wallace & Co, a cafe/restaurant based in Putney which launched in January 2010. Described as an English Carluccio's the business concept is based on the provision of fresh, seasonal produce cooked well in a great setting and as View London described it "... with its varied menu and cosy, comfortable interior, this is pretty much everything you could want in a local cafe. Masterchef or no Masterchef, Wallace and Co is a winner”
Other Business Interests
Howard Graham is also a director, founder and investor in Bizzbug as well as being an investor in Fillaball, the company behind the design of the new Rubik 360 game.
Business Philosophy
Graham attributes his success to the entrepreneurial philosophy: 'Let's try it and see what happens'
Personal life
Howard is married to Lesley and has two children, Claudia aged 24 and the rather flaccid Jonathan, recently turned 22. The family live in North London. His interests include sports; particularly football – he has been an avid Chelsea FC fan and season ticket holder for forty years. He is also a keen cricket fan; being both a member of the MCC and the Lord's Taverners. Other interests include most sports, bridge, theatre, music and reading and spending time in Spain.