Our Senior Team
Venetia Smith FCCA ACA - Director
Venetia started her accountancy career in 1987, at a Kent based practice, initially qualifying as an accounting technician and then as a Chartered Accountant in 1996.
After initially spending the first 12 years of her career in accountancy practice, she became the financial controller of Canterbury Cathedral in 1999 where she spent three years. She then spend the next three years working as the director of finance for a large solicitors practice before joining Mackenzies in 2004, becoming a director a year later.
Venetia is Mackenzies managing director and oversees the quality of our service provision. She acts as the lead adviser to many of our larger clients and is passionate about making positive contribution to their business, being a trusted adviser in both good and bad times.
Simon Johnston FCA - Director
Simon has a mathematics degree from Cambridge and trained with a medium sized practice here on the Isle of Wight, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2002 and rising to the position of client manager. He then went on to spend a couple of years working in corporate finance, advising on business sales and acquisitions, before joining Mackenzies as a senior manager in 2012, becoming the lead director of our Isle of Wight office in 2022. Simon oversees the day-to-day delivery of services on the Isle of Wight and supports our clients by offering proactive tax planning and business advice.
Emma Sparrow ACCA - Client manager
Emma has a first class degree in accountancy and finance from the University of Sussex, and started her accountancy career in 2018 with a practice on the mainland. She joined Mackenzies in 2019 and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2021. Emma is a key part of the Mackenzies team and acts as the lead manager to several clients and plays an active role in supporting the development of other team members.
Helen Mansfield FCCA - Client Manager
Helen trained with a medium sized practice here on the Isle of Wight, qualifying as a Certified Chartered Accountant in 2002. She then went on to spend a couple of years working as a forensic accountant on the mainland, before joining GKN Aerospace as a financial accountant in 2005. She became a senior accountant at Gurit UK in 2013, before joining Mackenzies as a client manager in 2017. Helen specialises in supporting our personal tax clients and local owner managed businesses.
Carole Wootton FMAAT - Payroll Manager and Accounts Senior
Carole started her accountancy career in 1978 with Ian Mackenzie & Co, a firm subsequently acquired by Mackenzies in 2011. Carole is an experienced accounts senior and also oversees our payroll services. As a life long islander and our longest serving team member, Carole is well known by most of our clients, and has established herself as a respected “go-to” contact point for most queries not only payroll.
Louise Verrillo - Practice Manager and Directors’ PA
Lou joined the firm in 2014 after a career in hotel management and hospitality. As well as acting as Venetia’s PA, Lou oversees our office processes, keeping our team on their toes, to ensure that we deliver the best possible service to our clients. Her role is much more than just overseeing our practice administration, as the first point of contact for most client queries, she frequently helps clients with HMRC payment arrangements, onboarding and variety of day-to-day questions.
Mark Smith FCA - Consultant
Mark has a first class degree in Economics and started his accountancy journey in 1989, qualifying with a Maidstone based practice in 1993. He founded what is now Mackenzies in 1998, initially in Kent, but immediately started to develop a client following on the Isle of Wight, this subsequently led to the opening of our first island office in 2009.
In addition to his continuing role within Mackenzies, Mark is also the managing director and shareholder of a large national training business. This direct and current involvement in commerce is much valued by our clients, enabling Mark to readily combine real day-to-day business experience with his many years as a tax and business advice specialist.