Co-owners of Miss S Business Fiona Sanderson (right) and Tracey Ward (left). Picture: Chris Moorhouse
Miss S Business Support, in Whiteley, helps organisations with the business side of their work, and calls itself ‘accountants for the community’.
It was started in 2013 by Fiona Sanderson, 48, and Tracey Ward, 56, both from Fareham.
Fiona and Tracey worked together for an arts charity where they were aware of funding cuts and redundancies being made, which made it harder for the charity to manage its finances.
They set up a business that charities, not-for-profit organisations and creatives could use as a hub of finance-related resources without having to worry about employment costs.
Although they focus on finances, they have contacts in other areas that they can refer clients to, building a network of ‘charity experts’ that are there to help.
Fiona said that as creatives and charities ‘generally aren’t too keen on the numbers’, she wants to help them learn and understand, by taking them step by step, being patient and using the right language, with the main goal of empowering.
She said: ‘Empowerment is so important to us in every little way that we can do it, whether it’s empowering our team members, each other or our clients. The slightest bit of education we can give to a client so they understand things a bit better, that’s a win for us.’
Co-owner of Miss S Business, Fiona Sanderson. Picture: Chris Moorhouse
Over the past nine years the team has purposely stayed small, in order to keep a ‘personal touch with clients’.
Fiona said: ‘We don’t want to become a big firm, we’re not about making huge profits, it’s about providing what the client needs to the absolute best of our ability.’
During the pandemic, Miss S Business Support gave out free advice to people and helped with furlough claims in order to help them get through Covid.
Co-owner Fiona Sanderson at Miss S Business Support Ltd, Whiteley. Picture: Chris Moorhouse
Fiona said: ‘We were happy to do them free of charge because the reason people were claiming furlough is because they didn’t have the finances to pay their staff.’
The company still gives a day every month pro-bono to a company who needs support and can’t afford to pay for it.
Miss S Business Support will soon become a community interest company itself, accompanied by a name change to Miss S Accounting for Purpose CIC.
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For further business support contact Emma Weatherstone, membership advisor Portsmouth & Solent Federation of Small Businesses on [email protected] or 07764432489
A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron
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