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About
Roake & Cook Limited was founded to help rural business owners thrive.
The rural sector is a vital sector of the UK economy, yet is often overlooked by the government and gets a lot of bad press. Our mission is to help rural business owners succeed by empowering them with financial knowledge and systems so they can scale with peace of mind.
Garden centres, farm shops, food and drink producers, florists, rare breeds, and crafters are all examples of exciting and innovative businesses under this umbrella.
Garden centres, farm shops, food and drink producers, florists, rare breeds, and crafters are all examples of exciting and innovative businesses under this umbrella.
Martin Cook
BFP ACA AAT
Director
BFP ACA AAT
Director
With family backgrounds in agriculture (grandparents on both sides growing up on dairy farms and Martin’s parents are hobby farmers), Martin studied two rural degrees at the University of Reading. Following completion of these degrees, Martin joined a firm of accountants with a specialism in agriculture, which is where Helen was already working due to her passion for the amazing rural business and way of life.
“Understanding our clients’ goals is key to the advice we provide. Some owners want to grow their business, others want more time with their families, and others just want a certain income to support their lifestyle. Each of our clients has unique challenges and understanding the end goal is critical to ensure the right systems are in place to help meet them.”
In 2017 Helen decided there was a gap in the rural sector for a more data focused accounting service. Bookkeeping is an often-overlooked area for many businesses, but the adage of ‘data out is only as good as data in’ is so true when it comes to making business decisions.
The rise in cloud software led to Martin joining Helen in business in 2021, with the desire to improve rural businesses finance functions and reporting as part of their mission to help the rural sector flourish.
Helen Cook ACA MAAT
Director
Director
Jo has spent 14 years working in various managerial roles in the hospitality industry and joined Roake & Cook in February 2024. Jo has a passion for delivering exceptional client services and has vast knowledge in organising events, managing teams, and building and maintaining strong client relationships.
Jo is based in the South West and looks after our existing clients, new client relationships, marketing and managing our internal systems.
Jo Hamilton
Practice Manager
Practice Manager
How can we help your business grow?
New and growing businesses often face uncertainty around the correct business structure, the best software, how to use it properly, and how best to track performance.
This stress and uncertainty can have a detrimental effect to both the business and the owner’s personal life and wellbeing.
We help many rural business owners overcome these challenges.
start your journey todaysee what our clients say about thisOur success (so far!)
By focusing on introducing clear and efficient systems and processes, we have helped a range of rural businesses remove the stress and uncertainty from how their business is performing.
A recent example is where we helped a new rural leisure and tourism business set up bookkeeping and payroll systems.
As part of this process, we registered the business for VAT and reclaimed more than £150,000 of VAT which has been used to develop the business and renovate properties to offer new services.
We have helped rural commerce and professional service businesses decide the best business structure to suit their business and lifestyle – there is no one size fits all approach.
The correct business structure, combined with efficient remuneration planning, is saving one business owner more than £15,000 per year, whilst another has benefited from some VAT planning advice which has saved them over £16,000.
Being a small rural business ourselves, we understand the challenges that business owners face. Time and resources are often at a premium, which makes understanding how your business is performing so important.
speak to us about your accounting needsThere is often a disparity between how we perceive our business is performing, and how it is. Accurate numbers do not lie and it’s vital to have these on hand to make business decisions. The days of waiting 6 to 9 months for year end figures are gone, cloud software and a proactive accountant keep you informed now.
If you are a starting or expanding rural business and want to work with a specialist accountant who is in your corner to improve your finance function and business performance, get in contact for a free, no obligation chat on how we can help.