Meet the team

Nixon Williams, Brian Alfred and ClearSky Business

A fellow member of the ACCA, Victoria is Director of Operations for a number of brands in the Optionis Group. She is responsible for managing all operational aspects and ensuring a high quality service is delivered to our clients. Before joining Optionis Victoria was Finance Director of the 1st Stop Group and has worked for Deloitte LLP and Grant Thornton LLP.

When not working, Victoria is a keen swimmer and is currently taking ice-skating lessons. She has a ten year old daughter who loves to dance and do gymnastics, so much of her time is spent watching dance shows and taking her daughter to rehearsals.

SJD Accountancy and First Freelance

Tony joined SJD Accountancy in July 2016 and later joined Optionis in the 2017 Arkarius and Optionis merger.

Prior to joining SJD, Tony had been working as a contractor so knows first-hand what help and assistance our clients need. He has 29 years of experience within operations and senior management and has held a senior position at Barclay’s bank.

James joined the Optionis Group in June 2020 as our Director of Financial Planning & Analysis. With over 15 years working in finance, James has responsibility for leading all FP&A activities across the Group including financial planning and forecasting processes and the production of financial budgets and forecasts. James works closely with the senior management team to provide actionable, commercially relevant insights from detailed financial analysis as well as providing support for strategic and tactical commercial decisions. Before joining the Optionis Group, James was Head of Commercial Finance at Scientific Games who are a leading provider of gaming solutions for the licensed betting office, arcade and bingo sectors in the UK.

When not working, James enjoys spending time with his family, restoring a period property and is a keen amateur auto mechanic.

Alison is our Director of Compliance and joined the Optionis Group in July 2020. Alison has worked exclusively with FCSA accredited members for the last 15 years, driving compliance standards from within and developing a strong working knowledge of umbrella employment, the construction industry scheme, PSC accountancy, PEO and the legislation and guidance that impacts upon this.

Alison is a keen runner and enjoys spending time with friends and family.

Rebecca joined the Optionis Group in April 2020 as our Group Director of Marketing.  With responsibility for developing our marketing strategy for all of our brands including client & market insight, industry & commercial relationships, earned attention and lead generation, Rebecca also works closely with our Digital and Sales teams to deliver growth through a strong pipeline of qualified leads.  Before joining the Optionis Group, Rebecca was Marketing Director at Barbour ABI who are construction intelligence specialists.

Outside of work, Rebecca enjoys being with family and friends, loves walking and is also a big cricket fan.

Amy, Group Director of Sales at Optionis, is responsible for a sales team of 55 who work across the Parasol and ClearSky brands to ensure our potential clients receive the best advice at a pivotal point in their contractor careers. She joined the group in 2015 and was previously Head of Service delivery, leading and managing on key areas of operations across the group.

Before joining Optionis, Amy’s career includes working for BT and Liverpool City Council as Head of Corporate Services and Business Transformation.

Away from work, Amy can often be found at a beach or park with her husband and two young children. She is also heavily involved in her local evangelical church, where she leads the children’s teaching team and a women’s bible study group

James joined Optionis in 2018 as the Director of IT. He’s worked in IT for over 15 years, including the last seven which he has spent as a Group Head of IS working more specifically within the contractor accountancy space. His experience also includes working for an outsourced professional services company, supporting businesses across the north west, and both the Public Sector and the Oil and Gas industry. At Optionis, James is responsible for the delivery of strategic initiatives to improve both the customer and user experiences, systems and IT infrastructure and processes.

Outside of work, James is a keen scuba diver, with his favourite dive being the wreck of the 10,000-ton MS Zenobia, which can be found off the coast of Cyprus.

Director of HR, Helen has over 15 years’ experience working in HR roles for various companies and has been at Optionis since 2005 so knows the business and our brands inside out. It is her job to ensure there is a people centric focus which supports the business to achieve their future goals and provides leadership to the HR team to ensure it is delivered effectively.

Outside of the office, Helen has her hands full with a young family and enjoys travelling and skiing.

Dawn is our Head of Service Delivery and is responsible for the operational management of Parasol, the group’s umbrella employment business and the centralised onboarding shared service for new accountancy clients across all brands in the Group.  Leading a workforce of 65 staff, Dawn ensures that all our umbrella and accountancy contractors receive a first class experience.  She joined the group in 2018 in a quality role; leading and managing all quality assurance activities across accountancy, umbrella and tax before taking over operational delivery for Parasol and Onboarding.

Dawn has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership.  Prior to joining Optionis Dawn’s career includes working for BT, Liverpool City Council and Lancashire County Council managing large, diverse teams and complex services.

Outside of work Dawn enjoys spending time with her family and friends socialising and going on holidays.

Ben joined Optionis in 2018 as the Group Head of Business Analytics. He’s worked in a diverse range of industries including telecoms, utilities and, more pertinently, has five years’ experience of the contractor accountancy arena. He has even enjoyed several years working as a contractor himself, so has a true understanding of what it’s like to work in this way. He is a firm believer in the benefits that analytics and data-driven decision making can bring to any business, even more so to those where data is at the heart of what they do, such as accountancy.

Out of work, Ben is a keen runner. He’s a qualified run leader, volunteering to lead social runs in Warrington, and has over 36 marathons under his belt with plenty more planned. He has a “secret” aspiration to make it into the ‘100 Marathon club’.