Lloyd Dowson

What Lloyd Dowson does

Lloyd Dowson Limited is a privately held chartered accountancy firm founded in 1978 and headquartered in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, with a second office opened in Scarborough in 2013. The firm employs over 60 staff and serves approximately 3,000 clients, primarily small and medium-sized businesses including limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders across Yorkshire, the North East of England, and nationally. Service delivery is anchored on recurring compliance and advisory work — bookkeeping, management and year-end accounts, VAT returns, statutory audit (via the wholly-owned Lloyd Dowson Audit Limited subsidiary), personal and corporate tax, payroll, and HR advisory — alongside discretionary services such as R&D tax credit claims, business sale and succession planning, and wills and trusts.

The firm's technology stack is built entirely on third-party platforms rather than proprietary systems. Lloyd Dowson operates as an authorised Sage reseller (since 1997), accredited Xero partner, and QuickBooks Online gold partner, and uses IRIS accounting and payroll software plus PayDashboard for digital payroll document management. Client engagement is delivered through two physical offices, phone, email, and the IRIS OpenSpace client portal. The technology posture is therefore that of an implementation partner and reseller for leading cloud accounting platforms rather than a product company.

The business model is a traditional professional services practice: fees are billed on a quote/engagement basis against recurring compliance work and project-based advisory mandates, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Go-to-market is sales-led, driven by local community presence in the Yorkshire region, word-of-mouth referrals, community sponsorships, and content marketing via the firm website and social channels. There is no institutional investor, parent company, or external funding; ownership remains within the founding Dowson family.

Name

Lloyd Dowson

Legal name

Lloyd Dowson Limited

Website

https://lloyddowson.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Lloyd Dowson is a Yorkshire-based chartered accountancy firm founded in 1978, employing over 60 staff across Bridlington and Scarborough offices and serving approximately 3,000 small and medium-sized businesses with accounting, audit, tax, payroll, and HR services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Chartered Accountancy Services

NAICS

Offices of Certified Public Accountants (541211), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412)

akta.pro primary industry

Accounting & Bookkeeping Services (BPAHABAC)

Keywords

• Chartered accountancy services
• Business tax advisory
• Payroll outsourcing services
• Audit assurance services
• Cloud accounting support

Headquarters

HQ city

Bridlington

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Accountancy Services: Lloyd Dowson generates revenue through providing professional accountancy services including bookkeeping, management accounting, financial accounting, audit services, tax planning and compliance, business advisory, payroll processing, HR services, and wills and trusts advisory. Services are billed through professional service fees likely on a fixed or recurring basis aligned with accountancy practice norms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lloyd Dowson provides a full suite of chartered accountancy services to approximately 3,000 UK businesses, including bookkeeping, year-end accounts, VAT returns and auditing, alongside tax planning and compliance, business advisory, payroll outsourcing, HR support, and wills and trusts advisory. The firm operates from offices in Bridlington and Scarborough and is an accredited partner or authorised reseller for Xero, Sage, QuickBooks Online, IRIS and PayDashboard software.

Product overview

Lloyd Dowson is a Yorkshire-based firm of Chartered Accountants providing a unified portfolio of professional services to approximately 3,000 clients across the UK. The firm operates as a single integrated offering centred on its Accounting and Auditing Services as the core product, supplemented by four additional service lines: Business Advisory Services, Tax Planning Services, Payroll Services, and HR Services. Cloud Accounting (covering Xero, QuickBooks Online, and Sage) and CIS Services are sub-modules delivered under the Accounting umbrella. Wills and Trusts is a distinct offering focused on estate planning. The firm employs over 60 staff across Bridlington and Scarborough offices and is noted for its community engagement and client-first approach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Accounting and Auditing Services Full suite of accountancy services for UK businesses including bookkeeping, management accounts, year-end accounts, balance sheet preparation, VAT returns and Intrastat returns, plus auditing and assurance services conducted in line with GAAP. Designed for limited companies, partnerships and sole traders requiring statutory compliance and ongoing financial reporting.
• Business Advisory Services Strategic guidance and financial insight for business planning, management information, cash flow forecasting, business expansion, mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts, and succession planning. Targeted at business owners planning growth, sale or transition.
• Tax Planning Services Comprehensive taxation services covering business tax planning, personal and corporate tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, R&D tax incentives (claims averaging over £50,000 in corporation tax refunds per year for qualifying clients), HMRC enquiry and investigation support, wills and trusts, and business sale or succession tax planning.
• Payroll Services Dedicated payroll outsourcing covering the full payroll cycle, auto-enrolment pension compliance, PAYE health checks, Real Time Information (RTI) submissions, CIS compliance, and annual payroll reviews, delivered via the PayDashboard digital portal for secure payslip and document access.
• HR Services Comprehensive human resources support for SMB clients including employment contract drafting, employee handbook and policy writing, grievance and disciplinary procedures, absence management, recruitment and onboarding, and HR health checks. Aimed at owner-managed businesses without internal HR functions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average corporation tax refund of over £50,000 per year for R&D tax credit claims submitted for clients.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SagecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 1997Lloyd Dowson has been an authorised reseller of Sage Accounting and Payroll products since 1997. The partnership with Sage has proved extremely successful. The Sage Consulting Department deals with the purchase, installation, tailoring of the software, and specialist training designed to meet client requirements.
• XerocoreTechnology or IntegrationLloyd Dowson is an accredited Xero Accounting Partner, demonstrating a strong working knowledge of Xero. The firm helps clients adopt Xero, providing bespoke setup, ongoing training, support, and account monitoring on Xero.
• QuickBooks (Intuit)coreTechnology or IntegrationLloyd Dowson is an accredited gold partner of QuickBooks Online. The firm can set up and customise QuickBooks for clients, providing training and ongoing support with all QuickBooks functions.
• IRIScoreTechnology or IntegrationLloyd Dowson uses IRIS accounting and payroll software for client work. Staff are competent with IRIS software as referenced in job requirements and tax compliance work.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lloyddowson
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCTJb2R4oZP79W_GqK4y47hQ/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lloyd-dowson

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lloyd Dowson