Dr. Sydney L. French
CA, CPA, FAIA, AIPA, ACCA CertIA, MIMC

Dr. French is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lexington French Associates Limited, a firm of Certified Public Accountants, Tax Advisers and Chartered Consultants. Coming from a multidisciplinary background, Dr. French has brought over 30 years of practical experience in accountancy and financial management gained in industry and commerce, public practice and the financial services sector, to the firm.

In industry he has worked for many blue chip companies and multinational corporations including Tube Investments, ITR Limited and Chrysler Corporation and has held positions of Finance Director, Financial Controller, Chief Accountant and Financial and Management Accountant. He has had public practice experience working for Deloitte & Touche, Kobla Quashie & Associates, Franklin French & Co. and DSL Group in the UK and Africa. He has also acquired valuable skills in the areas of project appraisal and evaluation, preparation of business plans, portfolio management, project financing, deal structuring and corporate recovery schemes for financially distressed enterprises during a long career in development finance and banking with the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). He has also held several non-executive directorships and served on Audit Committees and Assets and Liabilities Management Committees (ALCOs). During his earlier career, he lectured in accounting and finance, auditing and taxation for several years at Further and Higher Education Colleges in the UK and has developed and run outreach management development programmes on behalf of the CDC/DFID for development banks, public sector bodies, private enterprises and NGOs in many African countries including Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Dr. French received his accountancy education and training at Harrow Business School (now University of Westminster) and South West London College of Business and Management. He has done postgraduate studies at the University of London, Thames Valley University, North London Polytechnic as well as at universities in North America and holds a MBA and Doctorate degrees in Accounting and Financial Management, a MSc in International Business Management and a LLM in Business Law. He has qualified with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for the Certified Diploma in Accounting & Finance, the ACCA Certificate in International Financial Reporting and the ACCA Certificate in International Auditing. He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant, Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant and is a Fellow of the Association of International Accountants. He is also a Member of the Chartered Management Institute, the Institute of Management Consultants and the Federation of Tax Advisers.

Janice D. French
DipHE, DipEF, FA(SA), IFA, AAIA

Janice is an Associate Director of Lexington French Associates. She has had several years experience in industry working as a Book-keeper, Accountant, Finance Officer and Office Manager for several small and medium-sized companies as well as for charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in London, before joining the firm. She has also brought to the firm her experience in managing a portfolio of clients which she gained while working in public practice for Dlamini Ndallahwa & Co., a firm of chartered accountants in Swaziland.

Within the firm, she has special responsibilities for the provision of computerised book-keeping and payroll services to clients. She is also in charge of office administration and assisting clients with the preparation of management accounts and accounts reconciliations.

Janice is an Associate Member of the Association of International Accountants, a Member of the Faculty of Accountants and Book-keepers of South Africa, and IFA qualified. She holds a Diploma in Higher Education (DipHE) from Middlesex University and a Diploma in Finance and Accounting (DipEF) from Southall College, London. As part of her Continuing Professional Development (CPD), she has recently completed training courses in computerised accounting and payroll with the London School of Accountancy and Richmond College and holds the Pitmans Intermediate Certificate in Computerised Accounting (Sage Line 50) and the NOCN Level 2 (Intermediate) Certificate in Business Computing and Computerised Payroll.

Kobla Quashie
MBA, BSc, ACMA, CA, MIIA, MCMI

Kobla Quashie is a Consultant to the firm. He is the Principal of an associated firm of Chartered Accountants with a large clientele in Africa. Apart from his long experience in practice management, he has also worked extensively in areas of audit, financial management, project appraisal and evaluation, deal structuring and project restructuring. He has also completed several international consultancy assignments funded by international organisations such as UNDP, SIDA, SADC, CDC, USAID, GTZ and ADB. He was also a university lecturer in finance and accounting for many years.

Mr. Quashie holds a BSc in Administration and an MBA in Finance. He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants, a Chartered Accountant, a Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and a Member of the Chartered Management Institute.

Elizabeth Sampson
LLB (Hons), LPC (PG Dip - Law), Solicitor

Elizabeth is a Legal Practitioner and Consultant to the firm. After an early career in journalism, she worked for several years in development administration with the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) before embarking on a legal career. She has worked as a Solicitor, Assistant Solicitor and Legal Assistant for different Solicitors firms in London. She is experienced in civil litigation work, commercial law and human rights law. She acts as consultant to Lexington French Associates in matters relating to solicitors' accounts, commercial contracts, insolvency and liquidation.

Ms. Sampson holds a LLB (Hons) in Law from University of London and a Post Graduate Diploma in Law (LPC) from the University of Westminster. She completed her solicitors training with TA Solicitors of London.

Dionne V . French
BA (Hons), MA, MBA, CIB Cert.

Dionne is a Senior Accounts Manager with responsibility for managing a portfolio of SMEs and high net worth clients. Prior to joining the firm, she worked as Accounts Manager and Marketing Executive for Mintel International Group and Marriott Vacation Club International respectively. She has also worked as a Financial Adviser with a major UK financial services company.

Dionne graduated from the University of Westminster with a BA (Hons) in Management of Business Information. She has completed post graduate studies at London Metropolitan University and at London South Bank University and holds a MA in International Business and a MBA with concentration in finance & banking, project management and business management consulting.

She was trained as a Management Consultant with Westminster Business Consultants Limited and as a Financial Adviser with Countrywide Financial Services Limited and qualified for the Institute of Financial Services Level 3 CIB Certificate.