Latest group news
Pay for a day at Jigsaw children’s hospice
On Monday 9 October I was delighted to attend and support Jigsaw Cumbria’s Children’s Hospice, our 2017/2018 Charity of the Year partner, along with five …
Posted: October 11th, 2017
Handover of ‘Charity of the Year’ grand total to Great North Air Ambulance Service
On Friday 29 September David Allen and Alison Welton had the pleasure of visiting the Langwathby base of the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) …
Posted: October 3rd, 2017
David Allen announces new charity partner
Following another successful year of operating a Charity of the Year initiative David Allen are delighted to announce Jigsaw as their new charity partner from …
Posted: September 28th, 2017
The British Accountancy Awards
We are delighted to announce that David Allen has been shortlisted for ‘Independent Firm of the Year – Scotland, Northern Ireland and North England’ at …
Posted: August 11th, 2017
David Allen Charity Platinum Ball
On Friday 23 June 2017 we were delighted to host our Platinum Ball at The Garden at Eden to celebrate 20 years in business while …
Posted: June 26th, 2017
Ride to the Sun 2017
On Saturday 17 June a team from David Allen embarked on the almighty challenge of ‘Ride to the Sun’, a cycling route which saw us …
Posted: June 19th, 2017
How the team at David Allen can save you time
It is no secret that running your own successful business takes a lot of time, dedication and hard work. From day to day business operations, …
Posted: June 2nd, 2017
London Marathon 2017
On Sunday 23 April I was lucky enough to take part in the 2017 London Marathon, after months of training and charity fundraising, race weekend …
Posted: April 25th, 2017
David Allen host Inspire networking event
I was delighted to be invited to present at the Inspire networking event on Monday 10 April at the Waverley Hotel in Workington. Inspire West …
Posted: April 12th, 2017
Bright Stars tiny tycoons
Organised by the Centre for Leadership Performance, Bright Stars 2017 introduces pupils as young as five to the excitement of running their own mini-companies, at …
Posted: March 21st, 2017
Charity ‘Platinum Ball’ to celebrate 20 years in business
We are delighted to announce we will be hosting a charity ‘Platinum Ball’ to celebrate 20 years in business while raising funds for the Great …
Posted: March 14th, 2017
Spring Budget 2017
The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, delivered the last Spring Budget after previously announcing that there will be an Autumn Budget followed by a Spring Statement in …
Posted: March 1st, 2017
Menacing ‘red’ demands issued by HMRC
Have you received an ‘urgent’ tax demand from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or an amended tax calculation for 2015/2016? If so, don’t panic. After …
Posted: February 22nd, 2017
Carlisle Skills Fair 2017
We were delighted to attend Carlisle Skills Fair on Thursday 26 January, organised again by local MP John Stevenson at The Sands Centre. The Skills …
Posted: January 27th, 2017
Caldew School’s Year 11 Work Ready Day
At David Allen we believe in giving back to the community, helping not just current business owners, but the next generation of entrepreneurs too. We …
Posted: January 17th, 2017
Aspatria rugby day
Saturday 10 December saw our annual match day sponsorship at Aspatria Rugby Club. Each year we invite a number of clients, professional contacts, colleagues and …
Posted: December 12th, 2016
Autumn Statement 2016
The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, delivered his first Autumn Statement since succeeding George Osborne. In a world of uncertainty there is hope that Britain is on …
Posted: November 23rd, 2016
Autumn Statement 2016 Predictions
The Autumn Statement is coming, but what can we expect? Wednesday 23 November will see Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, deliver his first Autumn …
Posted: November 17th, 2016
Great North Air Ambulance ‘Charity of the Year’ Partner 2016 / 2017
Following a hugely successful first year of operating our Charity of the Year initiative in partnership with Eden Valley Hospice and Hospice at Home Carlisle …
Posted: September 20th, 2016
Carlisle Living Awards 2016
We were delighted to be part of the 2016 Carlisle Living Awards which took place on Friday 9 September. The annual ceremony which was attended …
Posted: September 12th, 2016
Sage Payroll and Auto Enrolment – FREE Seminar September 2016
Whenever your enrolment date, make sure you get a head start We would like to invite you to join us at our Sage Payroll …
Posted: August 16th, 2016
David Allen Charity Diamond Ball
On Friday 22 July 2016 we were delighted to host our first Charity Diamond Ball at Warwick Hall Estate, Carlisle in aid of …
Posted: August 1st, 2016
Welcome Tami to the David Allen Financial Services team!
We are delighted to announce that Tami Barton has joined our team at David Allen Financial Services. Tami is a CeMap qualified and experienced Mortgage …
Posted: July 11th, 2016
Lakes College Awards Ceremony
On Thursday 7 July, Gary Jackson and I had the pleasure of attending the Awards ceremony of Lakes College, West Cumbria to celebrate and recognise …
Posted: July 8th, 2016
Hadrian’s Cycleway Challenge
On Friday 17 June a team from David Allen embarked on the almighty challenge of cycling Hadrian’s Cycleway to raise money for the much loved, …
Posted: June 21st, 2016
The 178th Cumberland Show
The 178th Cumberland Show took place at Carlisle Racecourse on Saturday 11 June 2016. As proud sponsors of the event, myself and a number of …
Posted: June 13th, 2016
Carlisle Breakfast Event with the Bank of England
On Wednesday 18 May, I attended the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting with the Bank of England at the Halston hotel in Carlisle. We …
Posted: May 19th, 2016
Workplace Pension Seminar
On Tuesday 22 March we held the first ever David Allen seminar in our new Workington office at Prosper House. We are proud to now …
Posted: April 22nd, 2016
Budget 2016 is here
Later today the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will deliver his annual Budget announcement to the nation. This announcement will be Osborne’s eighth as Chancellor and in it …
Posted: April 5th, 2016
Dairy Expo 2016
We were delighted to be sponsors of Borderway UK Dairy Expo
Posted: March 15th, 2016
Charity Fashion Show
Our bargain hunters raised over £750 for our two charities
Posted: March 11th, 2016
Caldew School Work Ready Day
We were playing the role of interviewer for year 11 students
Posted: March 9th, 2016
Charity Band Night
Collision had the crowd bouncing and the dancefloor full…
Posted: February 29th, 2016
Carlisle Skills Fair
Find out more about MP John Stevenson’s skills event…
Posted: January 29th, 2016
Scottish Rate of Income Tax
The Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT) is the amount of Income Tax Scottish taxpayers will have to pay. New rates that come in to …
Posted: January 29th, 2016
Charity Coffee Morning
Find out more about the latest in our charity events…
Posted: January 25th, 2016
Easter Bank Holidays 2016
Employers may need to offer additional leave in 2016…
Posted: January 15th, 2016
Start your business on the right foot
Our handy guide on how you can set up your own business…
Posted: January 4th, 2016
Season’s Greetings from David Allen
Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous 2016!
Posted: December 22nd, 2015
Father Christmas and his sleigh
Father Christmas visited Dalston this week!
Posted: December 22nd, 2015
Christmas travelling update
We catch up with Jaimi and Lisa just in time for Christmas
Posted: December 21st, 2015
Funding for those affected by the Cumbrian floods
Funding is available for individuals, businesses and farmers
Posted: December 16th, 2015
Funding for individuals, families and community organisations affected by the Cumbrian floods
Funding available to people affected by the Cumbrian floods
Posted: December 16th, 2015
Funding for small and medium sized businesses affected by the Cumbrian floods
Find out more about the funding available to businesses…
Posted: December 16th, 2015
Aspatria Rugby Day
Saturday saw our annual match day sponsorship at Aspatria…
Posted: December 14th, 2015
Charity Bonfire Night Extravaganza
Find out more about our Charity of the Year bonfire night…
Posted: November 30th, 2015
University Graduation Ceremonies
We are proud to support the University of Cumbria…
Posted: November 27th, 2015
Penrith and District Farmers’ Mart LLP Annual Livestock Judging
We were proud to be part of the Annual Livestock Judging
Posted: November 20th, 2015
12 Defibs of Christmas
We are very proud to be a part of Tic Toc’s campaign…
Posted: November 16th, 2015
Agri-Expo 2015
We were proud to support and attend the Borderway Agri-Expo.
Posted: November 2nd, 2015
Updated guidance on employee travel
HMRC have updated their guidance on employees’ travel…
Posted: October 28th, 2015
CN Group Business Awards 2015
We were proud to once again sponsor this year’s awards…
Posted: October 22nd, 2015
Creating a healthy workplace
Make your business a healthy working environment…
Posted: October 9th, 2015
Abacus Children’s Day Nursery
Find out more about Abacus Children’s Day Nursery…
Posted: October 2nd, 2015
Carlisle Ambassadors: Give A Day – Inspire
We were delighted to take part in ‘Give A Day: Inspire’…
Posted: October 2nd, 2015
David Allen around the world…
At David Allen our people are our most important asset…
Posted: September 29th, 2015
Black Tie and Diamonds Ball
The glamorous ball was in aid of two local causes…
Posted: September 29th, 2015
Growth Twenty15
Businesses from Cumbria joined together for Growth Twenty15
Posted: September 15th, 2015
Carlisle Living Awards 2015
Find out more about this year’s Carlisle Living Awards…
Posted: September 11th, 2015
Engage With Your Audience
Our handy tips will help improve your public speaking skills
Posted: September 9th, 2015
We’ve launched our ‘Charity of the Year’ partnership!
We recognise the importance of giving something back…
Posted: September 7th, 2015
Cumberland Chartered Accountant Student Society quiz champions
Last night, Hannah, Melanie, Bryony, Audrie, Nathan, Lauren and I attended the Cumberland Chartered Accountant Student Society quiz night at Carlisle Rugby club.
Posted: August 17th, 2015
Two key members of the David Allen team are celebrating 10 years in service
Mark James and Ricky Taylor both joined us in August 2005, originally walking through the doors of the business as part of a Chartered Accountancy training scheme.
Mark and Ricky initially worked alongside each other preparing financial accounts and submitting VAT returns for many of the wide variety of clients that the firm looks after, from breweries to jewellers and everything in between.
Posted: August 17th, 2015
Innovation Strategy
We know that when innovation and business objectives are brought together, fully communicated, and positively promoted, success follows.
In order to achieve this cultural shift, top-down business objectives need to be communicated throughout the firm so that everyone understands their role in delivering firm wide innovation. With everyone on-board it then becomes the responsibility of the teams within your business to align their activities to support the objectives of the business.
Posted: August 17th, 2015
Inter Professional Rounders Tournament
On Friday 17 July a team from David Allen took part in Handlesbanken’s charity Inter Professional Rounders Tournament in aid of Eden Valley Hospice.
The typical British weather meant that the evening’s games had been postponed since June so all of our team had their fingers crossed that the good weather would hold out… and luckily it did.
Posted: July 20th, 2015
Communication is Key
When managing either a whole business or individuals, situations will always arise where you have to communicate key information such as a new policy or process. Perhaps you will have to understand issues that are impacting on the delivery of results or poor performance and share this feedback with your workforce or present a report or business case to secure additional resources. Whatever the situation, good communication skills can help you to keep your business and your employees on track.
We have put together some key pointers below to help you communicate effectively…
Posted: July 16th, 2015
Nelson Thomlinson School – mock interviews
On Friday 26 June I had the pleasure of visiting Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton to take part in mock interviews for a selection of their year 10 students.
David Allen were invited to the school to help their students gain valuable interview experience by playing the role of interviewer. There was a great turnout with representatives from a number of other local businesses including TSB Bank, Beaty & Co Solicitors and the British Army.
Posted: June 26th, 2015
Want to be a winner in business?… if so, the right attitude goes a long way
Many small and medium-sized businesses have the potential to be better and stronger than they are today. Success in business is often down to the management team and their mind-set.
So what classes as a winning attitude? Well… we have picked out some of the winning attitudes that we see in some of the successful leaders who we work with to give you a steer towards positivity:
Posted: June 23rd, 2015
Charity walk from Glasgow to Edinburgh
The British Heart Foundation is a wonderful cause and one personal to all at David Allen. Coronary heart disease is the UK’s single biggest killer and the British Heart Foundation are working to fight against cardiovascular disease. In 2014 one of our Independent Financial Advisers, Ian Sneddon, underwent heart surgery. Ian is a much loved, popular member of the David Allen team and words can’t express how pleased we were when Ian recovered and was back in the office and fighting fit! We know that for many, without the help of the British Heart Foundation, this would not be the case.
Posted: June 22nd, 2015
Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge
On Friday 5 June a team from David Allen embarked on the almighty challenge of cycling the Coast to Coast route to raise money for the much loved, local charity Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland.
The day began early with our team, consisting of Alison Allen, Lisa Irving, Vicky Johnston, Robert Nordon and I, arriving in Whitehaven for 8am. Fully kitted out in our lycra and cycle helmets we got into our cycling groups ready for the weekend ahead. Our adventure began as we dipped our bike tyres into the Irish Sea at Whitehaven before setting off on our journey across the breadth and backbone of England.
Posted: June 8th, 2015
David Allen Quiz Night
Over the past three months a team from David Allen has been fundraising for Hospice at Home (Carlisle and North Lakeland) ready for their Coast2Coast cycle challenge which is taking place on 5 – 7 June 2015. The challenge will see the team, consisting of Alison Allen, Lisa Irving, Kerrie Allison, Robert Nordon and I, cycling 150miles in just three days. This journey will take us across the breadth of Britain (and over some pretty big hills!), starting at Whitehaven and finishing in Tynemouth.
Posted: June 1st, 2015
Protect yourself from fraud
Criminals are aware of the number of businesses and individuals using mobile and wireless technology to manage their finances and are cashing in on security flaws. We must all protect ourselves from these criminals by remaining vigilant and knowing what information we should and should not disclose over the telephone, in emails and via the internet.
Posted: April 29th, 2015
Easter duck race
David Allen have entered a team into the Hospice at Home (Carlisle and North Lakeland) Coast2Coast cycle challenge, due to take place this June. This challenge will see the team of Alison Allen, Lisa Irving, Vicky Johnston and Robert Nordon and I cycle 150miles in just three days in a journey that will take us across the breadth of Britain.
Our team are aiming to raise £4,000 for Hospice at Home and have already held a number of fundraising activities. With Easter and the school holidays approaching we decided to hold an Easter themed event that promised to be fun for all ages. The event took place at Alison and David Allen’s house in Dalston and included an Easter egg hunt, tombola, rubber duck race and some petting time with the Allen’s newly born Spring lambs.
Posted: March 30th, 2015
Young Enterprise Finals 2015
At David Allen we believe in supporting the next generation of business entrepreneurs in our local area and were once again proud to support the Young Enterprise (North Cumbria Area Board) finals evening on Thursday 19 March.
Young Enterprise is the UK’s largest business and enterprise education charity. Every year teams from secondary schools across Cumbria launch their own mini businesses as part of the Young Enterprise company programme.
Posted: March 23rd, 2015
Bright Stars 2015… the results are in!
Over the past couple of months David Allen have been proudly supporting Centre for Leadership and Performance’s Bright Stars initiative. After all of the participating school’s hard work, the winner of the competition has finally been announced.
The Bright Stars initiative was launched in order to encourage business flair in primary school children across Cumbria. Schools are partnered with a local organisation for support and given £50 with the challenge of making this initial investment grow as much as possible, with all funds raised going to the school’s chosen charity.
Posted: March 17th, 2015
Coast2Coast
In June a team from David Allen will be donning their helmets and lycra to cycle the breadth of the country from the West to the East Coast. This challenge will see them cycle a whopping 150 miles in three days!
On 5 June Vicky Johnston, Lisa Irving, Kerrie Allison, Alison Allen and Robert Nordon will be will be dipping their bike tyres into the Irish Sea at Whitehaven and setting off to cycle across the breadth and backbone of England.
Posted: March 13th, 2015
Bright Stars Dance the Day Away
Bright Stars is an initiative created by Centre for Leadership Performance (CfLP) to encourage business flair in primary school children across Cumbria. Schools are partnered with an organisation for support in turning £50 given to them by CfLP in to as much money as possible.
Posted: March 9th, 2015
ICAEW BASE National Business and Accounting competition
On Tuesday 24 February Jaimi Wilson, Danny Roper and I assisted with the Northern heat of the Institute of Chartered Accountants BASE competition held at the University of Cumbria.
Posted: February 25th, 2015