Howard Graham BSc FCA (born 6 March 1959) is an English entrepreneur and accountant best known for his work as CEO and founder of The Made Simple Group.
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Early life
Howard Graham was born in London, the middle of three children of Brian and Joan Graham. From the age of nine to eighteen he was educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, London, he then studied Accountancy and Finance at Salford University, where he achieved a 2:1 with Honours.
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Career
In 1980 Graham joined Chartered Accountants firm, Clark Pixley (now named Clark Whitehill). Three years later, in 1983, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and then spent eighteen months (between 1983-1985) as a financial controller. In 1985 he joined Westbury Schotness Chartered Accountants, (now known as Westbury) where he became a Partner in 1987.
Entrepreneurship
In 2001, whilst still with Westbury, Graham formed the virtual office business London Presence, which would eventually become part of The Made Simple Group. Over the last 15 years The Made Simple Group has grown to incorporate multiple companies designed to help the UK's small businesses "start, run and grow"; Company Formation MadeSimple (2003), This Is Your Office Mail Forwarding (2004), Company Search MadeSimple (2005), Business Training MadeSimple (2011), Websites MadeSimple (2015). September 2014 saw The Made Simple Group move offices from Farringdon, London to a new facility on Wenlock Road, near Old Street Tube.
In 2011 Graham took early retirement as a Partner at Westbury to focus on his work as CEO of The Made Simple Group.
The Made Simple Group was placed 73 in The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies To Work For list 2016 and has won a number of awards, including the Accountancy Age for Excellence Award 2006 for the Best Use of Internet in a Business.
As well as his work with The Made Simple Group, Graham has been involved with a food business and a restaurant (Wallace & Co, in which he partnered with Gregg Wallace).
Press contributions
Graham is a regular consultant and contributor to multiple newspaper and online publications. He has written for BBC News and Microsoft, and has been quoted in the The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Mirror, The Independent, The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Smallbusiness.co.uk, This is Money, Fresh Business Thinking, Business Matters, Startups.co.uk, Business Weekly, Business Advice, is4profit, LondonlovesBusiness.com, Office Genie, HubSkills, Real Business, Integra Business Solutions and EntrepreneurCountry Global.
Speaking engagements
- Midas Touch - Part of the Dragon's Den style panel alongside Peter Jones, Rachel Elnaugh, Jonathan Jay, Ashraf Sharif, Marcus de Maria.
- From Accountant to Entrepreneur - BNI International Networking Day, Lords Cricket Ground.
- Do you ever ask your clients what they are doing online?- PracticeWEB, Driving Your Online Future - One Day Conference, Emirates Stadium, London.
- Create a Successful Online Business - BStart Up Exhibition, Olympia, London.
- How to create a successful online presence Growing Your Business Exhibition - National Exhibition Centre.
- Making a difference Online! - The 20/20 Group, Annual Conference, Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham.
- Doing Business Online Successfully - Events Made Simple, HMS President, Victoria Embankment, London.
- Think your product or service cannot be sold online? think again! - BStart Up Exhibition, Excel, London.
- Doing Business Online Successfully - BStart-Up Exhibition, National Exhibition Centre.
- Digital Imperatives for Accountants - TaxAssist Annual Conference, Celtic Manor.
Philanthropy
Graham is a trustee of The Graham Foundation, a family charity that donates to multiple good causes. He is founder and original organiser of the Lord's Corporate Cricket Challenge held at the Lord's Indoor School.
Personal life
Graham has been married since 1981 to Lesley with two children, Claudia, a management consultant aged 29 and Jonathan, an Investment Banker aged 26.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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