
David Armstrong FCA CTA
David qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser with a “Big 4” international practice, where he spent 8 years specialising in tax planning and tax mitigation advice to owner-managed businesses. He brought that expertise to Ribchesters when he became a partner in 1994, and has since gained wide recognition as a specialist in tax planning, the property sector and in advising on business acquisitions and disposals. David also has extensive tax investigation experience and leads the firm’s tax investigations and litigation support services. David’s professional philosophy is that no challenge is insurmountable, and he approaches life away from work in a similar fashion! His main interests are skiing, running up and down mountains (having competed in more than 250 races, including 22 Ben Nevis races) cycling (including cycling more than 3,000 miles through Spain, Morocco, Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania in recent years raising more than £15,000 for charity). Unfortunately David’s active participation in football and cricket over many years now only involves active spectating!

David Holloway BA (Hons) FCA DChA
David qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ribchesters. He then spent a period working as an Audit manager for a large regional practice in Newcastle before re-joining Ribchesters in 2000. David was appointed partner in 2002. David is highly experienced in advising family companies, professional practices, charities and academies on audit, accounting and taxation matters. He is one of a handful of practitioners in the region to hold the ICAEW accredited Diploma in Charity Accounting. David is also skilled in advising clients on appropriate accounting software solutions. He likes to work closely with his clients and has acted as quasi Finance Director for a number of companies over the last 15 years. David plays squash competitively and enjoys cycling, fell walking and spending time with his family.

Rob Ribchester MA (Durham) ACA
Rob qualified as a Chartered Accountant with a mid-tier firm in London before moving to a specialist tax role with ‘Big 4’ firm Deloitte in the City before joining Ribchesters in 2010. Rob has a wealth of knowledge in accounting, audit and tax matters for owner managed businesses including; income and capital tax planning, corporation tax, remuneration strategies and business restructuring. Rob is a particular specialist in the area of Research and development tax relief and has a growing number of clients in the fintech sector. Rob dedicates significant time to charitable organisations and similar groups; he is a trustee of a number of local charities and trusts and involved with a number of social enterprises. Rob is also Chairman of the Board of Governors of Durham School. Outside of work Rob enjoys spending time with his family and three young children and playing golf when he can.

Jack Law BA MA FCA FCPA (HK)
Jack graduated with an honors degree in Economics and Accounting from Newcastle University in 1982 and earned his Masters Degree in Philology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012. Jack qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the firm in 1984. He then spent several years in senior financial positions in Hong Kong, before returning to the firm as a Partner in 1992. He remains a valued partner in our Newcastle office, but retains substantial consultancy interests overseas. Jack spends much of his time in the Far East. Jack is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English and is uniquely placed to provide advice on inward investment to Hong Kong, China and the Far East as well as investment into the UK. He is also equipped to provide business advisory and tax advice to clients from Hong Kong who would be looking to settle in the UK under a BNO visa.

Josephine Law BSc (hons)

Mark Summerson ACA
Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the firm in 2010, which included exam passes that gained him two separate awards for the highest marks in region. Since qualification, Mark progressed to become the full-time Audit and Accounts manager. Mark covers all areas of Audit and Accountancy for a wide variety of sectors, which include Construction, Retail, Academies and Charities. Mark leads our Cloud Accounting Solutions service

Amanda Chalmers ACCA
Amanda joined the firm in 1997 and qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant in 2003. She has since progressed to the role of Assistant Manager and is involved in the delivery of services to the firms largest clients. Amanda is also expert specialist on Sage Accounting Software products and is highly skilled in delivering training to clients on their use and implementation.

Alison Shield CTA
Other consultants and advisers
All of the firm’s professional staff hold recognised professional qualifications in their field, are actively studying towards such qualifications, or have at least 10 year’s’ experience in their area of expertise.
In addition to having a designated partner responsible for delivery of our services to you, you will also have a designated qualified accounting manager and tax adviser to ensure that professional advice will always be available to you when required.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Our monthly newsletter contains a round up of the latest tax news and updates of what's happening at Ribchesters
As a subscriber you will automatically recieve our newsletter direct to your inbox
Coronavirus (COVID-19) update
As a valued member of our community, we appreciate the trust you place in us to make sure all your critical services continue.
We are committed to an evidence-led and common-sense approach to containing the coronavirus outbreak and mitigating its impact on employees, customers and our wider business operations.
Please be assured we are preparing for our services to continue as normal. We have business continuity plans in place to minimise the risk of infection and make sure we can continue to deliver a business-as-usual service to our customers should an infection occur at an office. These include implementing clear guidelines for employees, providing support and advice for anyone who needs to self-quarantine, and issuing guidance on following safe hygiene practices across the organisation.
You can find further information on Covid-19 below to keep you updated:
- Guidance for employees, employers and businesses
- Support for business – Scotland
- Government advice to the public
- Number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases and risk in the UK
- Advice from the NHS