12 June 2012
Press ReleasesThames Valley accountants and business advisers James Cowper Kreston has been appointed by Langtree School in Woodcote to provide accounting, audit and advisory services following their conversion to Academy status on 1 April. The appointment was made in March following a competitive tender involving several other firms.
Langtree School is a coeducational comprehensive school with 560 students and specialist status in the performing arts, catering for children from the villages of South Oxfordshire as well as the Northern fringes of Reading and West Berkshire.
Recently deemed outstanding by Ofsted, the school is committed to maintaining high standards of attainment for all pupils through the core mission of ‘Putting Learning First’, which will continue well into the future. The school is now drawing up plans for further improvements to the existing school site in order to upgrade and improve facilities for teaching and learning which would be fit for purpose for learners in the 21st century.
Andy Jones, a director in James Cowper Kreston’s Oxford office, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed. Langtree School’s continuing success is crucial to the community and it has an excellent reputation for being very well led and run. The change to Academy status means that the school is now independent of local authority control and will enjoy greater freedoms and control over budgets and how it organises itself. We hope and expect to add value as the school’s leadership team moves forward.”
Andy added: “James Cowper Kreston will be preparing the school’s annual accounts and assisting with developing their accounting systems and procedures to help it meet the new regulatory responsibilities. Alongside this, we will be advising on a range of issues to help ensure the school is run efficiently from VAT compliance, to providing training and guidance for governors and finance team staff.”
Commenting on why James Cowper Kreston won the tender, Langtree School Business Manager Dawn Challis said: “Our governors felt that James Cowper Kreston demonstrated the best understanding of the upcoming challenges we face. The firm is clearly very interested in the school and strongly committed to working with us and helping deal with the demands placed on our teams. We look forward to working with James Cowper Kreston over the coming months and years.”
James Cowper Kreston acts for a number of schools and Academies across the Thames Valley and further afield, including The Oratory School in Reading and the LVS School in Ascot.
Andy Jones, Director, James Cowper Kreston LLP, tel +44 (0)1865 861166 or email
