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Melanie Curtis Accountants

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Melanie Curtis Accountants

We help businesses reach for the stars through our range of accounting & business growth services. As you would expect, we are great with numbers.

We are Accountants & Business Growth Specialists who help business owners reach for the stars and achieve the life of their dreams. We work closely and proactively with our entrepreneurial clients to grow their businesses by planning, forecasting, measuring, and reporting for the future. We work with you to provide you with better information enabling you to grow a great business. We offer a wide

range of compliance and business growth services. Our compliance services include annual accounts & corporation tax, VAT & bookkeeping, company secretarial, payroll, auto enrolment, self-assessment, and start ups & formations. We also offer business growth services which include management accounts & reporting, coaching, business plans, strategic planning, and profit improvement. We offer 3 levels of service too, so business owners can choose how closely they would like to work with us and exactly which services they would like. So if you're looking for leading accountants in Berkshire, you've come to the right place.

15/06/2026

🎉 Today marks 22 years since I started my business.

22 years. Honestly, that feels pretty special to say.

When I started, I was working from a garage conversion at home with 3 young children running around 😊 No huge office. No big team. No fancy setup. Just a determination to build something worthwhile.

Like most business owners, the journey definitely came with its fair share of: ⁠long hours, pressure, difficult decisions, ⁠sleepless nights and plenty of learning along the way 😅

But 22 years later, what I’m most proud of isn’t just the longevity. It’s the people.

The brilliant team around us 🙌 The fantastic clients we work with 🤝 The relationships built over many years and the trust people place in us every day

Because no business reaches 22 years without good people behind it and one thing I’ve become even more passionate about over the years…

Is helping other business owners succeed too.

Helping them: ⁠Understand their numbers, improve profitability, reduce stress, make better decisions and achieve the goals they started the business for in the first place because running a business is hard enough without feeling confused by the financial side of it.

That’s why we always try to keep things practical, commercial and in plain English.

I’m genuinely grateful to everyone who’s been part of the journey so far: Clients, Team members, Suppliers, Friends and Family.

Thank you for all the support over the years ❤️

11/06/2026

“We’ll make it back on the next job” is where margins disappear

“We’ll make it back on the next one.”

I hear this a lot in construction.

And it’s usually where the problem starts.

Construction business owners turning over £1–£7M:

One job comes in slightly under margin.
• Labour overruns by 3–4%
• Materials cost more than expected
• Variations not fully recovered

So the thinking becomes:

“We’ll tighten it up on the next job.”

But then:

• The next job is priced to win
• Pipeline pressure creeps in
• The same patterns repeat

And suddenly:
• 14% margin becomes 10%
• Then 8%
• Then you’re working harder for the same money

I’ve seen £3M–£5M firms lose over £150k this way.

Not through one big mistake.

Through small assumptions repeated.

Here’s what actually works:
• A clear minimum margin rule
• Monthly job-by-job reviews
• Honest estimated vs actual comparisons
• Fixing issues immediately, not later

The key:
Margins don’t recover themselves.

They drift if no one is watching them.

Have you ever seen this happen across a few jobs in a row?

10/06/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M–£10M:

Not every successful construction business owner wants a £20M business.

Some just want:

- Predictable cash flow
- Less stress
- Better margins
- A stronger team
- To take a proper holiday
- To stop thinking about work 24/7

And honestly?

There’s nothing wrong with that.

A lot of owners spend years chasing growth…

Without ever stopping to ask:

“What does success actually look like for me?”

Because bigger doesn’t automatically mean better.

I’ve seen:
- Smaller businesses with happier owners
- Larger businesses with constant pressure
- Owners making good money but with no time to enjoy it

At some point, the goal has to become more than just turnover.

Your business should support the life you want.

Not become the reason you can’t enjoy it.

So here’s the real question:

What does success actually look like for you now?

And is your business helping you get there?

09/06/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M–£10M:

One of the fastest ways to kill profit in construction?

Saying yes to the wrong work.

A lot of businesses get stuck chasing turnover.

So they take on:
-Low-margin jobs
-Difficult clients
-Projects outside their sweet spot
-Work they know will be painful

Just to keep revenue moving.

The problem is…

Not all revenue is good revenue.

Some jobs drain:
-Time
-Cash flow
-Team energy
-Profitability

And often create more stress than they’re worth.

The strongest construction businesses aren’t the ones saying yes to everything.

They’re usually the ones clear on:

What work makes money

What work fits their business

And what they should walk away from

Because growth isn’t just about winning more work.

It’s about winning the right work.

Have you ever taken on a job you knew you probably shouldn’t have?

04/06/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M–£10M:

A lot of construction businesses aren’t actually running well.

The owner is just very good at holding everything together.

They’re:
-Solving problems constantly
-Chasing people
-Stepping in when things go wrong
-Making every major decision

From the outside, it can look successful.

But behind the scenes?

The business depends heavily on one person.

That works for a while.

Until:
-The pressure builds
-Growth stalls
-Or the owner burns out

At some point, every business hits the same question:

Are you building a business…

Or becoming the system holding it together?

Because those are two very different things.

And there’s another problem most owners don’t think about:

If the business only works because of you…
It’s probably not worth as much as you think either!

Because buyers pay more for businesses with:
*Systems
*Visibility
*Structure
*Teams that operate without the owner in every decision

Not businesses held together by one person carrying everything.

So the real question is:
Are you building a business someone would actually buy…
Or one that completely relies on you?

03/06/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M–£10M:

A lot of you don’t have a bad accountant.

You’ve just outgrown them.

They’re:
-Nice
- Responsive
- Get the accounts done on time

But everything is backwards-looking.

By the time you see the numbers:
- The job’s finished
- The profit’s already made (or lost)
- And nothing can be changed

That’s fine at £200k–£500k.

It’s a problem at £1M+.

Because at your level, decisions need to be made during the job, not after it.

You need:
- Visibility while work is happening
- Clarity on which jobs are actually making money
- Confidence in your cash position

Not just a set of accounts months later.

Most don’t spot this until it starts costing them.

01/06/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M–£10M:

It’s June already!
Which means we’re basically halfway through the year. And for a lot of business owners, this is the point where reality starts kicking in.

The goals from January looked great on paper.

But now? You’re asking questions like: Are margins where they should be? Is cash flow actually improving? Is the business becoming easier to run? Am I actually getting rewarded for the pressure?

Because turnover alone doesn’t tell you much. A business can grow… While the owner becomes: More stressed, more stretched, more reliant on overdrafts, more trapped in day-to-day problems.

That’s why this time of year is important. It’s a chance to stop reacting for a minute and ask: Is the business genuinely moving in the right direction… Or are you just staying busy?

Because the businesses that improve fastest usually aren’t the busiest ones. They’re the ones willing to step back and look at the bigger picture.

So here’s the question: If you carry on exactly as you are now for the next 6 months… Will you actually be happy with where the business ends up?

28/05/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M–£10M:

A heatwave 😎 sounds great…

Until you’re trying to keep projects on schedule.

Because in construction, hot weather can quietly create:
• Lower productivity
• Longer programmes
• More fatigue on site
• Delays across multiple jobs

And the problem is:

Most businesses don’t factor these things into planning properly.

They assume:
“Good weather = easier jobs.”

But operationally, it’s not always that simple.

The stronger construction businesses usually plan ahead for:
• Productivity changes
• Programme slippage
• Labour pressure
• Cash flow knock-on effects

Because protecting profit isn’t just about winning work.

It’s about managing operational reality properly too.

Does extreme heat tend to help productivity on your sites…
Or hurt it?

26/05/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M to £7M

Just this week I’ve spoken to 3 business owners all saying a very similar thing.

Their accountant is a nice person.
They get on well.
There’s no real issue.

But…

They feel like their business needs more.

More forward thinking.
More involvement.
More input while things are actually happening.

Because the business has grown.

There are more jobs.
More moving parts.
More pressure on cash and decisions.

And what used to feel fine… just doesn’t quite fit anymore.

Not because the accountant is doing anything wrong.
But because the business has outgrown that level of support.

I’m hearing this more and more lately.

Have you ever had that same thought?

25/05/2026

Construction business owners turning over £1M to £10M

Being busy is one of the biggest risks in construction

Sounds backwards.

But it’s true.

You’re fully booked.
Sites are running.
New enquiries coming in.

Everything looks good from the outside.

But underneath, I often see this:

• Jobs priced slightly too low
• Variations not fully recovered
• Margins slipping across multiple projects
• No time to step back and review

Because everyone is busy.

And that’s the problem.

When you’re busy:

You don’t question things.
You don’t review properly.
You just keep going.

I’ve seen £3M–£5M firms work flat out all year…
And still feel under pressure at the end of it.
Not because they lacked work.
Because they lacked visibility.

The uncomfortable truth:

Busyness can hide problems.
Until it’s too late.

When you're busy do you review your numbers more .. or less?

Address

Wokingham

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 5:30pm
Thursday	9am - 5:30pm
Friday	9am - 5:30pm

Website

http://melaniecurtisaccountants.co.uk/, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wokingham-networking-club-spring-into-networking-ti

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