Loop round up: August
Here’s our quick round-up of The Loop updates throughout July.
Colleagues
The All Staff Event and RIALTO Awards
As we approach our All Staff Event at Chelmsford City Racecourse on 1st October, our marketing team have shared the return of our staff awards, with a focus on our RIALTO values.
Please RSVP to the event if you haven’t already done so: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OctGroupEvent25
This year we’re excited to launch peer-nominated Staff Awards, giving you the chance to shine a spotlight on the amazing people you work with. You can nominate ONE individual or team from your local office.
Nominations are open until 11th September and your dedicated office survey can be found in an email from Nicki on Friday 15th August or through the QR code on the poster in your office kitchen area.
The All Staff Event & RIALTO Awards – Affinia Marketing Blog
The RIALTO Awards – Spotlight on Past Winners – Affinia Marketing Blog
Please read more on the staff awards on the posts shared by the Marketing team. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to the team.
New team members
In August we welcomed 10 new joiners to Affinia across our Operations, Accounts, Audit, Corporate Finance and Tax teams. We hope you’re all settling in well – if there is anything you need to help your integration, please don’t hesitate to ask your team or office lead.
Work anniversaries
We celebrated 39 work anniversaries across the business, ranging from 1 to 40 years!
Exam success
5 of our team members passed professional exams. Congratulations to all!
Instant rewards
Phoebe Stack, Trainee Accountant in Ipswich, received an instant reward for going the extra mile for a work placement by providing in-depth training, explaining everything clearly and spending significant time with them to ensure they understood everything they were doing.
Ben Caleno, Semi-Senior Accountant in Chelmsford, received an instant reward for going above and beyond as a team member and for delivering truly excellent customer service for a client.
Josh Wilby, Trainee Accountant in Colchester, received an instant reward for showcasing outstanding work ethic and conscientiousness over the last couple of weeks to complete outstanding tasks before his annual leave & study leave, whilst also training brand new starters on top of his usual workload. On top of these extra efforts with his work, he is still managing his time outside of work during this period well for studying and, as such, achieved an impressive mark on his first mock on his BST course.
The full People & Culture update can be found here: People & Culture Update – Affinia Marketing Blog
Recent Promotions
Our People team shared our recent promotions:
- Dawid Pretorius (South Africa) to Audit Manager
- Steven Diep (Stratford) to Audit Assistant Manager
- Kayla McFarlane (South Africa) to Audit Assistant Manager
- Harry Ward (Chelmsford) to Audit Senior
- Acer Spurling (Ipswich) to Audit Semi Senior
- Chloe McCann (Stratford) to Senior Accounts Manager
- Abby Salt (Colchester) to Accounts Manager
- Ellie Johnson (Colchester) to Accounts Manager
- Lauren Mallet (Colchester) to Accounts Assistant Manager
- Becky Barker (Ipswich) to Cloud Accounting Assistant Manager
- Sarah Callow (Harlow) to Cloud Accounting Assistant Manager
- Luke Green (Chelmsford) to Senior Accountant
- Esme Sheldrake (Colchester) to Senior Accountant
- Freddie Scott-Yates (Ipswich) to Semi Senior Accountant
- Sam Luscombe (Chelmsford) to Semi Senior Accountant
- Robert Forbes (Stratford) to Tax Senior
- Nathan Byford (Colchester) to Tax Semi Senior
- Kirin Yeung (Colchester) to Tax Semi Senior
- Henry Clarke (Colchester) to Tax Semi Senior
Congratulations to all! Read more on the recent promotions here: Recent Promotions! – Affinia Marketing Blog
New Digital Communications Standards Policy
Our People team announced the new Digital Communications Policy, now available on Cezanne. It is mandatory for all employees to review the policy so please ensure you have read and understood this new policy.
If you have any questions or need further clarification, please contact the People team.
Read more here: New Digital Communications Standards Policy available on Cezanne – Affinia Marketing Blog
Requesting IT access overseas
Our IT team have kindly requested that if you are going overseas and wish to access your Affinia accounts, to please raise a ticket with Utilize at least two weeks before your departure.
Find out more here: Requesting IT access for overseas travel – Affinia Marketing Blog
LinkedIn guidance reminder
Our Marketing team shared a polite reminder to ensure your LinkedIn account is up-to-date by demonstrating you are employed by Affinia, using your headshot as your profile picture and adding one of our Affinia branded banners.
Read the full guidance here: LinkedIn guidance reminder – Affinia Marketing Blog
Clients
Reminder to activate Single Sign-On for Summa Tech
Our Business Support team shared a polite reminder to activate your Single Sign-On for Summa Tech. You MUST activate now if you haven’t already done so.
Please read the full article to find out how to activate your Single Sign-On: Reminder to activate Single Sign-On for Summa Tech – Affinia Marketing Blog
If you have any queries, please raise an Admin Request Ticket and select “Client Portal Admin”
Audit monthly newsletter
Last month our Audit team highlighted the following in their newsletter:
- Two new flowchart for statutory audits with year ends beginning 5th April 2025 or earlier and one for 6th April 2025 onwards
- A significant client win: a major client acquisition for a major international logistics company
- Some fantastic feedback from Cegos, a global leader in learning and developing
The full article can be viewed here: Monthly Audit Newsletter – Affinia Marketing Blog
Client document and equipment posting procedures
Our Business Support team have kindly reminded all staff of the delivery process for client documents. These delivery methods are:
- In-person collection by the client (recommended)
- Postal delivery via Royal mail Tracked 24 with signature
- Courier delivery, where relevant
Read more here: Client Document and Equipment Posting Procedures – Affinia Marketing Blog
Companies House ID verification: Roll out date confirmed
As previously shared in June, our Business Support team confirmed the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparent Act 2023 introduces mandatory identity verification for all Company Directors and Persons with Significant Control.
We can now confirm that identity verification becomes mandatory from 18th November 2025.
Please read the full announcement here: Companies House ID Verification: Roll Out Date Confirmed – Affinia Marketing Blog
If you missed the first announcement from Business Support in June, please read more here: Important Changes: Companies House – Document Filing – Affinia Marketing Blog
Property Tax monthly newsletter
Our Property Tax team shared some recent updates, including:
- Recent wins and new cases
- Team successes – penalties avoided in SDLT enquiry
- HMRC news
Read their full update here: Property Tax August Newsletter – Affinia Marketing Blog
Clarkson Hyde Global: International support for you and your clients
As more clients operate internationally, we would like to remind staff of Clarkson Hyde Global (CHG) which offers valuable support through its network of independent accountancy and advisory firms in nearly 50 countries. This global reach enables seamless assistance with cross-border tax, overseas expansion, and local compliance. Strengthened by partnerships with SMS Latinoamérica for Latin American expertise, and the Cicero League for legal support, CHG ensures clients receive comprehensive, partner-led service wherever they do business.
Read more on how CHG can help you here: Supporting Clients Across Borders: Our Global Reach – Affinia Marketing Blog
Community
We were delighted to share some Community Updates from across our office locations, including:
- After their baby was born 11 weeks early last year, Rebecca Pearcy (Senior Manager in Chelmsford) and her husband will be climbing Mount Snowdon to raise money for the Neonatal section at Broomfield Hospital, as we revealed in a post earlier this month.
- Lee Fullgrabe, Senior Accountant in Halstead, shared the news of this year’s Affinia Fantasy Premier League, which started on 15th August
- Our Harlow office celebrated the summer with dinner at a local Indian restaurant followed by a darts and pool evening
- Four staff members from our Ipswich office won a charity networking golf tournament hosted by Credo Capital Finance which raised over £1,100 for Riding for the Disabled Association and You Are Not Alone
You can read more about our community updates here:
Rebecca Pearcy to hike Mount Snowdon for Mid & South Essex Hospital charity – Affinia Marketing Blog / Affinia Fantasy Premier League 2025 – Affinia Marketing Blog / Harlow team darts and pool night – Affinia Marketing Blog / Summer charity round up – Affinia Marketing Blog
That covers the key updates from August. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the head of service line as appropriate or email the marketing team.
Have a great week everyone!