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About us

Manor Croft

Manor Croft was formed in 2024 by Joanne Wright and Carol Dodson to support the accounting and taxation needs of agricultural and rural businesses of all types and sizes. They pride themselves on a personalised approach, getting to know their clients and hopefully, becoming not just accountants and tax advisor, but trusted family advisors and mentors.

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As a small, specialist team they can provide continuity and efficiency, through a director led relationship.

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They understand the pressures facing the industry in these changing times and look to provide a timely service tailored to each client’s needs.

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They provide specialist accounting and tax advice services to rural businesses throughout Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Peterborough, Lincolnshire and surrounding areas.

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Joanne Wright

ATT (Fellow), CTA, TEP

Director

Joanne is a Chartered Tax Adviser who is also STEP qualified (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners).

 

She trained and spent many years working for a top five accountancy firm as well as other regional firms including being a Partner of Agriculture for over four years in a top 100 firm. She has a wide breath of technical knowledge on all aspects of accounting and tax issues.

 

For nearly 20 years she has specialised in providing strategic tax planning advice for landed estates and farming businesses and has a passion for helping land owners and rural businesses navigate the ever-changing tax landscape. She has a true affinity with farming families and rural businesses and understands the challenges they face in the modern world.

 

She prides herself in taking the time to try to understand the people behind the figures and build long term relationships with such businesses. Her work involves optimising their tax planning by coming up with tailored solutions to help their businesses grow.

 

Projects she has led include:

 

  • Providing detailed tax advice on inheritance tax and succession planning issues

  • Advising on Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

  • Estate restructuring involving companies, trusts and partnerships

  • Partnership splits resulting from disputes, retirement and death

  • Moving assets between generations

  • Minimising tax on land sales and business asset disposal relief

  • Diversification opportunities

  • Capital allowance claims on large scale projects

  • Using her technical knowledge to maximise reliefs and claims on compliance matters.

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Since becoming STEP qualified in 2014 she has also developed an expertise and has become renowned in dealing with tax issues on complex trusts, including Settled Land Act Trusts. So can provide expert advice on compliance but also technical issues surrounding trusts, estates and inheritance.

 

Joanne is also the Secretary of the Northamptonshire branch of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) and has helped organise several recent events which have helped support local members of the farming community.

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Carol Dodson

MAAT, CIMA Adv Dip MA, ATT, CMgr MCMI

Director

Carol is a qualified accountant licenced with the AAT and also holds qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting, the Association of Taxation Technicians and is a Chartered Manager with numerous years of experience in the agricultural and rural estate sector.

 

She has spent over 15 years overseeing the finance departments for landed estates. She is a highly motivated, detailed and organised individual, who gains enjoyment in providing high quality work and working collaboratively with clients and team members.

 

Types of work that she has been involved in include:

 

  • Year-end accounts preparation

  • Implementing and managing cash flow budgets

  • Budgetary control reporting and implementation

  • Costings and analysis of crop results

  • Presenting financial information at strategic estate meetings and board meetings

  • Project accounting and data capture

  • Capital cost benefit analysis

  • Financial control processes

  • System development

  • Assisting with bank loan application in relation to estate development

  • Complex VAT returns including partial exemption and options to tax

  • Payroll

 

She also has a proven track record of implementing processes and systems and assisting in developing teams to improve efficiency within estate offices. She is familiar with most on farm computer systems and is an accredited partner of Landmark and Xero.

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Outside of work Carol is busy supporting the AAT as a member participating in the AAT Members’ Assembly and is also the current committee chairperson of the ATT Northampton branch, which has aims to promote CPD and life-long learning.

We are already expanding and looking at taking on another member of staff soon. More details to follow.

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