Meet The Team

Matt founded Portt & Co in 2015, with the aim of making the lives of small business owners less stressful.

Matt qualified as an accountant with a large regional firm before moving into industry, specialising in process improvement and analysing profitability in food manufacturing operations with turnovers up to £200m.

​Having been responsible for a weekly payroll with 1,200 employees, Matt made the move back to practice with another large regional firm, assuming responsibility for their 500 payroll clients before forming an outsourced finance and cloud accounting service offering.

In 2018 Matt was placed at 22 in the Accountancy Age 35 under 35 ranking for 2018. The ranking spotlights the brightest young talent in the accountancy sector and features those who display innovation and dedication to lead the way and transform their respective fields

Likes

Netflix

Chill

Nature

Dislikes

Emails

Bad customer service

Socialising

Kayleigh qualified in 2017 and joined our team in Summer 2020 (mid pandemic) as a Finance Manager, but soon progressed to Portt’s Head of Accounting.

As Head of Accounting, Kayleigh oversees all technical aspects of service delivery, and the accounting team.

Kayleigh has over 10 years of senior accounting experience, and puts all aspects of her knowledge to use to support our team and wide range of clients.

In her spare time she enjoys playing hockey, crochet and spending time with her family.

Likes

Crochet

Reading

Cuddles with her daughter

Dislikes

Crowds

Noisy eaters

Seeing the result of something you were going to watch later

Toni joined Portt in January 2022.

She originally joined the team to support Kayleigh, the Head of Accounting, as an Executive Assistant, which soon expanded to supporting Matt, the CEO, too. Toni has now progressed to the Head of Operations at Portt, being responsible for various areas across the business, including but not limited to HR & Recruitment, Employee Wellbeing, Marketing, B Corp, Project Management and Strategic Planning.

Toni’s previous experience includes providing executive support to Seniors, Directors and CEOs in fast paced environments. She’s worked in various industries, including accounting, travel, social housing and the NHS. She is currently studying for the CMI Level 5 in Leadership and Management diploma.

Toni also acts as Chair of our Social Committee, and is Portt’s Mental Health First Aider and Wellbeing Ambassador.

Outside of work Toni is a keen photographer, outdoor enthusiast and regular fundraiser. She is currently fundraising for a Freefall Skydive in August 2023, for Papyrus – Prevention of Young Suicide.

Likes

The outdoors

Photography

Bouldering

Dislikes

Dangerous drivers

Seafood

Spiders

Katy has worked in a bureau environment for over 20 years, covering administration duties, bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll, credit control and office management but decided to focus on payroll since 2015.

She joined Portt in 2016 but took on another job in January 2023 and we are delighted that she has rejoined the Portt team in August 2023 as Head of Payroll, and is also supporting Matt Portt as his Executive Assistant.

Katy loves getting out and about in nature; whether that is riding her horse, trail running or hiking. She also enjoys going to gigs, camping, gaming, watching musicals/ballets/orchestras at the theatre and is teaching herself to play the piano – when she can find the time!

Likes

Pancakes

Human kindness

80’s films

Dislikes

How often I have to clean my kitchen

Narcissists

The fact that pets don’t live forever

Sandra joined us having worked for a large regional firm for over 30 years, the latter of those working closely with Matt Portt, which makes her particularly skilled at understanding challenging business owners.

As Head of Practice, Sandra looks after our billing, and dealings with suppliers. She also carries out the bookkeeping and payroll on numerous clients on a day to day basis.

Likes

Theatre

Time

Individual sports

Dislikes

Cooking

Making small talk

Having to clock watch

Clare was a Beauty Therapist for 5 years, after qualifying in 2018, she travelled around the world working for cruise ships for 2 years and has since been working and living in Taunton ever since. However, she felt ready for a big career change! Clare will be starting a Level 5 Operational/Departmental Management Apprenticeship in September 2023 and is very much looking forward to starting this new adventure! Clare manages everything IT related, social media, and company operational administration tasks!

Clare is already part of the social committee and looks forward to getting to know the team better.

Outside of work Clare loves gardening, going to the theatre and trying new recipes. Clare also has an ongoing collection of houseplants that are slowly taking over her house…

Likes

Baking

Holidays

Self-care

Dislikes

Being Late

Adverts

Disorganisation

Laurel joined us in 2020 and shortly after qualified as an ACCA Certified Accountant. In 2021, Laurel was promoted to Finance Manager to reflect her qualification and in-practice experience.

From previous roles, Laurel also has experience in payroll and Making Tax Digital (MTD).

Likes

Baths

Music

Cocktails

Dislikes

Big events

Traffic

Spiders and bugs

Andrada joined the Portt & Co team in September 2021 when we announced the opening of our office in Brasov.

She is currently studying for her ACCA and has over 3 years experience working for accountancy firms.

In her spare time, Andrada enjoys reading crime novels and sings in a choir.

Likes

Crafting

Pokemon Go

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

Dislikes

Ginger

Injustice

Unpunctuality

Matt self-studied for his AAT qualification, doing so alongside a full-time sales ledger role. In 2019, Matt joined us to study his ACCA qualification and taken on several of our larger clients, delivering a high level of customer service on a day-to-day basis.

Likes

Norwich City FC

Gaming

Gigs

Dislikes

Aston Villa

Power cuts

Crane flies

Paula joined us in January 2022 as an AAT Apprentice.

Within her first month she received the results of her AAT Level 3 Advanced Bookkeeping exam and was well above the average pass rate. Paula has now completed her Level 3 AAT apprenticeship and has progressed to work on our two biggest clients. She is now completing ACCA.

In her spare time, Paula enjoys spending time with her two young daughters at the allotment she maintains.

Likes

Gardening

Flowers

Sea

Dislikes

Crowds

Injustice

Doing the dishes

Diana joined Portt as an ACCA Trainee accountant in 2021.

She is currently studying for her ACCA and her past experience includes working for a multinational outsourcing company and worked on behalf of their UK client as an Office and Accounting Administrator, working as a Junior Accountant in industry for a local firm, then working as an Accounting Assistant for a recruitment company dealing with over 400 employees.

In her spare time, Diana enjoys spending time in nature, training and spending time with her family and 2 cats

Likes

Speciality coffee

Psychology

Night rides

Dislikes

People who don’t keep their word

Cooking

Wasting time

Cristina joined Portt in September 2022 as a Management Accountant, working remotely from Romania.

Cristina comes from a background of accounting at various firms, including having ownership for large portfolios of clients, and knowledge on systems which will be a huge benefit to her at her time at Portt.

In her spare time, Cristina enjoys spending her time cooking, hiking and skiing.

Likes

Gardening

Animals

BBQ parties

Dislikes

Animal abuse

Rats

Traffic

Simona joined Portt in April 2023. Due to her love for numbers, she chose to get her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. Afterwards, she started a Customer Service job in order to support herself while furthering her education. Everything took a turn when she decided to pursue an accounting career.

She joined Portt & Co on April Fools Day in 2023 as an ACCA Trainee. She plans on taking her ACCA qualifications once she gains enough knowledge and experience.

Outside of work, Simona likes training her two dogs to do tricks and spending time with her family and friends.

Likes

Dogs

Photography

Food

Dislikes

Bugs

Socks with sandals

Tea

Sean joined us as a Level 3 AAT Apprentice in August 2023.

His past experience includes studying motor vehicle maintenance and electrical installation, and then moving into the food production industry, where he spent nearly 11 years, starting as an operative and progressing to shift manager. After the birth of his child, he made the decision to move from the UK to Romania, before taking on the Portt role! He knew after the first interview with Matt that it was a project he really wanted to be a part of!

Outside of work, most of Sean’s spare time is taken up by being a father, but he enjoys cooking and being outdoors! He enjoys gardening and is a keen sports fan, and is even in the process of building a house which takes up a lot of his time!

Likes

Boxing

Football

Good food

Dislikes

Bad manners

Mosquitos

Olives

Yasmeen joined Portt in March 2023. After graduating from Lebanese American University with a bachelor degree in Business Management, Yasmeen decided to continue with a master’s degree in Human Resource Management in Romania.

Yasmeen joined Portt & Co as an ACCA trainee Management Accountant, and starts the ACCA apprenticeship around Autumn time. In the meantime, Yasmeen used her knowledge of HR to help us in the HR department, which helped her gain further experience.

Outside of work, Yasmeen likes to go out with friends, walk in nature, and cook her favourite meals

Likes

Nutella

Cats

Spring

Dislikes

Horror Movies

Hot condiments

Arachnids

Having grown up in Norfolk, Siobhan moved to Manila in 2011 and has operational experience in outsourcing and general company administration. Siobhan and her team support the accounting and payroll teams to provide an awesome customer experience. As Head of Data, she manages our data systems and reports.

Outside of work, Siobhan is a keen gamer.

Likes

Aquascaping

Computer games

Space stuff

Dislikes

Peanut butter

Busy cities

Centipedes

Angleyn joined our team in July 2021 as an Admin Assistant.

Working remotely from her home in the Philippines, Angelyn will be assisting our Head of Operations with maintaining processes, monitoring deadlines, communicating with the bookkeeping team and our clients and supporting the planning and running of day-to-day business.

Outside of work, she loves binge-watching documentaries and boxsets.

Likes

Online shopping

Online gaming

Pets

Dislikes

Cockroaches and bugs

Spoilers

Pramila joined the Portt team in September 2023. She is based in Nepal, and has joined our accounting team, assisting with a range of tasks, such as bookkeeping, VAT returns, statutory accounts and any adhoc work.

Pramila is an ACCA member and has completed her masters specializing in finance. She has worked for local and UK based accounting practices and has worked as a full-time employee for brands like Yamaha and Unilever in Nepal. She has worked in accounting, auditing (statutory and internal) and taxation (Nepal).

She is excited to join the Portt Team, and says it is going to be a fun and challenging journey.

In her spare time, Pramila likes to take pictures, read, travel and wander in nature.

Likes

Mountains

Tea

Cats

Dislikes

People cancelling on planned trips

Loud noises