Westcotts is a leading firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, supporting growing, innovative and forward-thinking businesses across the South West.
Working across multiple sectors, their team combines financial expertise, digital insight and practical advice to help business owners make confident decisions and build sustainable, successful organisations.
As Growth Forge supports ambitious founders to scale, innovate and strengthen performance, Westcotts will bring deep expertise across audit, digital systems and corporate tax to ensure innovation is underpinned by strong financial foundations.
“We’re pleased to be partnering with Tech South West and Growth Forge for their 2026 programme. Many ambitious businesses are using technology to transform how they operate and grow, and our role is to help turn that innovation into strong, sustainable performance. By combining clear financial insight with practical advice, we’re here to support founders and leadership teams at every stage of their journey.” – Adam Croney, Partner & Plymouth Office Lead
Meet the Experts:
Adam is a Partner and Plymouth Office Lead at Westcotts, and also heads the firm’s manufacturing sector team. He works closely with ambitious, growth-focused businesses, from owner-managed and family firms to large corporates, supporting them strategically with all aspects of their growth, as well as through complex audit, reporting and governance requirements.
Adam leads a number of Westcotts’ largest audit engagements and is highly regarded within the South West business community. He brings a practical, commercial approach, helping clients and their founders use strong commercial and financial insight, systems and governance to support sustainable growth, manage risk and make confident strategic decisions.
Matt Melksham is a Partner at Westcotts and Head of Digital Services, leading the firm’s digital and AI agenda across the South West. He works with founders and leadership teams to turn technology into stronger performance, improving visibility, control and decision-making through better data, reporting and systems.
Matt and his team help clients map and simplify processes, select and implement the right tools (from cloud accounting and workflow to document management and dashboards), and integrate systems to remove duplication and reduce risk. They also support AI-enabled improvements in onboarding and compliance, helping businesses move faster with cleaner data and a better client/customer experience. The result is less admin, fewer errors, improved governance and more time back for owners and teams to focus on growth.
Richard is a Tax Partner at Westcotts, based between the firm’s Plymouth and Exeter offices, where he advises businesses and their owners on a broad range of corporate tax matters. His work spans tax compliance and planning for businesses of all sizes across a wide range of sectors and their owners.
He particularly enjoys working with founders, helping them maximise tax available tax reliefs, raise funds using the EIS and SEIS investment schemes, implement share-based employee incentive arrangements, and structure tax-efficient reorganisations and transactions.
With extensive experience in corporate tax, Richard is known for providing clear, commercially focused advice that helps clients achieve their objectives while remaining fully compliant with legislation. He takes a practical, straightforward approach, ensuring tax considerations are understood and managed effectively as part of wider business decision-making.
Jon is a Tax Director at Westcotts, based in Exeter, with nearly 30 years’ experience advising owner-managed businesses, larger corporates, and charity and not-for-profit organisations. His expertise covers corporate tax, corporate reorganisations, acquisitions and sales, and assists businesses in securing valuable reliefs such as R&D tax credits and in achieving tax-efficient funding and employee reward.
He has extensive experience of working with businesses across a range of industries including manufacturing, leisure and hospitality and the technology sector.
Jon is known for his ability to cut through complex tax issues, delivering clear, practical advice that supports clients in achieving their wider business objectives. He takes a relationship-led approach, working closely with clients to understand their goals and help them plan confidently for the future.
For more information, get in touch with their team: https://westcotts.uk/contact-us/exeter/
Applications for Growth Forge are open. For more information and to apply: https://www.techsouthwest.co.uk/growth-forge/
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