Key Contacts - Bristol

Matthew Lee - Managing Partner
Head of Professional Practices Sector Group

Matthew joined the firm initially as a Senior manager in 1992 after spending several years at one of the ‘Big 4’ accountants in Bristol where he worked in the audit and Management Consultancy departments.

Matthew has a mixed portfolio of audit and accounting clients in the owner managed sector as well as being the Engagement Partner on our OFEX clients.

He was made Partner at Bishop Fleming in 1992, and was made Managing Partner in 2000 having previously served on the management committee.

As well as being the firm's Managing Partner he also has specific responsibility for IT Services, International Business and a portfolio of corporate clients.
Matthew comments, “I believe that every client is entitled to a personal, commercial service and it is part of my job to simplify the compliance aspects of a client's audit and taxation affairs whilst bringing a commercial edge to the advice they are given. Ultimately we have to be able to show that we have made money for our clients and that is an ethos that I hold very dear."

Alex Robins
Partner - Head of Wealth Management & Tax

Alex is Bishop Fleming’s specialist in personal tax planning, and heads the firm’s team focused on providing wealth-management services.

Having joined Bishop Fleming in 2006, Alex previously worked with two of the ‘Big 4’ firms of accountants.

Educated in Taunton and at Cardiff University, Alex is an active participant in hockey, skiing, and golf.

“Getting to know my clients is the key to providing practical tax planning solutions that will help them achieve their ambitions. Dealing primarily with owner-managed businesses and high net worth individuals, I oversee all aspects of our clients’ tax affairs. We ensure that clients’ tax strategy is in harmony with their personal and business life."

Joe Scaife
Partner - Head of Charities & Not-for-Profit Sector

Joe is a widely recognised specialist in advising charities & not-for-profit organisations (like private schools), and professional partnerships (especially law firms). He is a regular speaker at seminars for both these sectors.

One of a small number of charity-sector qualified accountants, he heads the firm’s sector team serving more than 130 charity, not-for-profit and education clients. His services to these clients go way beyond providing sector-aware audit and accounts, including advice on new legislation and regulation, assisting in advance of Charity Commission inspections, advising on mergers, managing trading subsidiaries, and maximising business planning and controls.

Joe is also a key member of our sector team serving professional partnerships, with 13 years’ experience of advising professional partnerships. His expertise spans structural and strategic issues, partnership financing, mergers, financial management & planning, and handling profitability and work-in-progress issues.

Having joined Bishop Fleming in 2003 from a national firm of accountants, Joe is one of the firm’s most physically fit partners! He regularly takes part in marathon runs and has been known to compete in bog-snorkelling contests.

Sam Talby
Partner - Business Recovery & Insolvency

Sam has over seventeen years of mainstream insolvency and business turnaround experience gained from both small and large accountancy firms.

Sam is a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner, a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), a Member of the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (MABRP) and a Member of Turnaround Management Association (UK).

Sam comments, “Our approach ensures each assignment is dealt with in a sympathetic and professional manner by our experienced and highly qualified team of insolvency professionals who understand the pressures and stresses faced by financially distressed directors, individuals and creditors.”

Jonathan Williams
Partner - Head of Corporate Finance

Having trained and qualified with a 'Big 4' accountancy firm, Jonathan also has a wealth of experience in industry, including seven years as a Group Financial Controller of a London-listed group of companies.

Since Jonathan joined Bishop Fleming in 1999, the firm’s Corporate Finance team has grown to ten people, handling more than £100 million of transactions per year, spanning due diligence, Management Buyouts (MBOs), company disposals, and acquisitions.

Jonathan is a recognised expert in transaction management, and is an adviser on entry to the “PLUS Market”. He also works with Bishop Fleming’s specialist sector teams, serving Care Homes, Charities & Not-for-Profit, Tourism & Leisure, Property & Construction, and Marine Industries – providing expert advice on company sales, acquisitions, and re-financing.

“I have a strongly commercial and pragmatic approach, gained from the time I spent in industry. As a Corporate Finance specialist partner I concentrate on transactional and strategic projects, which means that I am able to devote the necessary skill and time to each transaction."