About Me

Authors - Access Technology Group

Alistair O'Reilly

Alistair O’Reilly is the Group MD for the Access Technology Group and founder of Access Accounting, which he set up in 1991. His vision and passion for business software has seen the Group achieve consistent growth and profitability through the innovative use of IT, ensuring emerging mainstream technologies are usable by, and affordable to, medium-sized companies in the UK and Ireland.

With 30 years in the IT and software industry, his wealth of experience – and that of his team - has helped to benefit more than 10,000 companies that have chosen Access Accounting’s solutions. Known for his infectious enthusiasm he has infused the business with his energetic leadership style which has played a huge part in the organisation’s success. As a result, Access Accounting has seen many firsts to market including the first true Windows accounting solution, the first integrated middleware and the first in-built business intelligence. In 2008, the award-winning company released a completely integrated solution to account for carbon emissions, allowing businesses to easily measure their carbon footprint.

Having led the acquisition of three IT organisations, he set up parent company Access Technology Group in 2006. Access Supply Chain, Asyst Solutions and Access Accounting Ireland now sit alongside Access Accounting. The Group acquired its fifth subsidiary Armstrong Consultants in April 2008, consolidating its position as the UK’s leading mid-market business and accounting software supplier.

Chris Tossell

I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1980 and spent some time with KPMG before moving into industry as Finance Director of a manufacturing company. In the late 1980’s I met Alistair O’Reilly, our Group MD, and was involved in the early years of Access Accounting through to 1995. I made a decision to join RM Plc, one of the largest education IT vendors in the world, and spent time in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and the USA opening and building new subsidiaries for them. However when the opportunity came to rejoin Access as Commercial Director responsible for acquisitions I jumped at the chance and it has been a homecoming. I am looking forward to working with the ATG Board to realise the Group’s goals to double turnover and profitability by 2010.

Authors - Access Accounting

John Beech

John Beech is on the Board of Directors of Access Technology Group and is the Managing Director of Access Accounting, the UK’s leading business software house.

He joined Access Accounting in the early 90s as Customer Services Director, where his broad-reaching role included quality assurance, support and product management. Previously the owner of an IT company providing accounting software, hardware and maintenance services, his professional experience spans almost every area of business - from software design and engineering through to customer service, marketing and sales.

In January 2006, he was named Managing Director for Access Accounting, assuming full responsibility for the running of the business and now leads a team of 130. Known for his enthusiastic, personable approach, John is passionate about the software and its part in helping growing organisations gain increased business advantage. His keen eye for spotting exceptional talent has also been pivotal in helping the company deliver ground breaking solutions that continue to simplify business.

Together with Access Accounting’s founding director, Alistair O’Reilly, John is focused on developing the company’s commitment to innovation and development and maintaining agility to respond to changing business needs in the fast paced technological environment.

Ian Little

Ian Little is the Group Finance Director for Access Technology Group and has been the FD for Access Accounting since 2000. Having led three acquisitions - Access Accounting Ireland, Asyst Solutions and Access Supply Chain - he then played an instrumental part in formalising the structure of the Access Technology Group in 2006. Most recently he was involved in the acquisition of Armstrong Consultants.

Ian originally joined Access Accounting in 1997 as Business Development Manager, providing the services of a finance director to Access Specialist Centres around the UK, helping them to prudently grow their businesses. He was then appointed Head of Finance in 1998, leading Access Accounting’s finance team, before being promoted to FD in 2000, where he took on full responsibility for the finance function.

Trained by Deloitte & Touche in London, Ian started his career within the company’s Corporate Recovery and Restructuring Department where he was part of the first group authorised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to train outside of the audit department. In the late 80’s, he worked on the high profile liquidation of Bank of Credit & Commerce International (BCCI).

Ian moved to East Anglia in 1992, where he set up the Corporate Recovery Department for Ernst & Young, before moving to KPMG to lead the Ipswich Corporate Recovery Team, helping to make it the leading practice in East Anglia for bank-led work.

Ian is a member of the ICAEW, including their IT Faculty and the Finance & Management Faculty.

Kevin Misselbrook

Kevin Misselbrook is responsible for the support and customer services that Access Accounting provides to its customers and resellers. His role also entails representing the company's interests at government and industry level and input into the company's product strategy.

Kevin joined Access Accounting in 1997 having spent the previous 16 years in the IT industry where he specialised in the delivery of financial software to commercial businesses and the accountancy profession. His roles at Access Accounting have been broad, ranging from product management, to the creation of a professional services team. In January 2006 Kevin was appointed to the Board of Directors at Access Accounting to look after the Customer Services side of the business.

Kevin is Deputy Chairman of the Business Application Software Developers Association (BASDA), Chairman of the BASDA Special Interest Group on Financial software, and also serves on the IT faculty committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). He also serves on the BASDA Special Interest Group for Green IT and is an active proponent of the need for companies to account for their carbon emissions.

Kirsty Lowe

I have been working at Access Accounting Ltd since April 2000, prior to this I worked at a Computer Reseller in their IT department and prior to that at an Accountants. I have received many computing qualifications, including some in software development and systems architecture. More recently I have obtained the ISEB Foundation Certificate in Software Testing and QBIT's Putting Theory into Practice.

When I joined Access I worked in the QA department testing Horizons/FXP, and after 3 months I was promoted to QA Team Leader of those products. Approximately a year later I moved onto the Innovations products and have worked on the Office Integration, Executive Desktop and Smart Tags Designer products since their beginning, testing and writing requirement documents. This has been very interesting for me as I very much enjoy working at the leading edge of technology, and being in the Innovations Department now is enabling me to do R&D, on top of my testing role.

I have also been heavily involved in installers, designing and testing, for all of our products. This also includes writing reports for our Dealer Site to let them know about our product releases and what features we have released in them.

In my spare time I love to go horse riding, reading and watching movies and documentaries.

Oli Cox

Since joining Access Accounting Ltd eight years ago, I've held positions in market research, sales, support, technical services, innovations and now reside in the development department. I'm a qualified SQL Server administrator & developer, also dealing with technologies such as XML, XSL, Javascript, VB6 and VB.net.

Authors - Armstrong Consultants

Chris Bayne

Chris Bayne is a Director of Access Technology Group and the Managing Director of Armstrong Consultants. Chris has overall responsibility for the running of Armstrong and actively works with Piers McLeish and Alex Reeves to develop the northern and southern offices. His role requires him to be quite “hands on”, and he continues to balance the management of key customers with the ongoing running of the business.

After graduating from Aston University in 1993 with a BSc (Hons) Computer Science, Chris set up Armstrong Consultants with three friends from Aston; Ket Chauhan, Rob Parkinson and Mike Audis. With contacts and experience gained from their placement years, Armstrong Consultants was formed as a development company from Chris’ family home in Hertfordshire. After 15 years, Armstrong Consultants employs over 100 staff, in four UK offices and has won numerous awards and accolades from industry suppliers. In April 2008 the Access Technology Group (ATG) acquired Armstrong Consultants, as part of ATG’s aim to grow its business to £100m turnover by 2017.

Chris’s role sees him work with the sales team on new business and account management opportunities to ensure that Armstrong can provide the products and services that customers require. As part of this, Chris researches new technologies and products as relevant to Armstrong customers.

On the technical side, Chris is closely involved with the FocalPoint solution – the first version of which he wrote. Due to his close involvement with a wide range of prospects and the sales team, Chris is able to foresee customer trends and briefs the development team on new features and specific customer requirements.