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2022-03-31-accounts

Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 Company number 6191989 (England and Wales) Registered charity number 1120667

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR FROM 1 APRIL 2021 – 31 MARCH 2022 FOR FAST FAMILIAR LIMITED (formerly fanSHEN)

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 Contents

Report of the Trustees Page 3
Statement of Financial Activities Page 10
Balance Sheet Page 11
Notes to the Financial Statements Page 12
Independent Examiner’s Report Page 15

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

The Trustees who are also directors of the charitable company for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the Financial Statements of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2022. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” effective form 1 January 2015.

Reference and Administrative Details

Registered name Fast Familiar Limited (formerly fanSHEN)

Company number 6191989 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number 1120667

Registered office

The Boathouse, River Gardens, Purley on Thames, Reading, RG8 8BX

Trustees/Directors as at time of signing

A Alston N Azhar S Heenan C Twite (Chair)

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank 1 Balloon Street Manchester M60 4EP

Independent Examiner Johal & Company Spectrum House 2b Suttons Lane Hornchurch Essex RM12 6RJ

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

The Board of Trustees presents its report and financial statements for the year from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 and reports on developments since that date and future plans for the charitable company.

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 29 March 2007 and registered as a charity on 24 August 2007. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £1.

Recruitment and Appointment of New Trustees

The number of Trustees is limited to a maximum of ten and a minimum of three. Trustees are elected by members of the charitable company. All Trustees are directors of the charitable company. None of the directors have any beneficial interest in the charitable company. On appointment, Trustees are given a copy of the governing document, all policies, including the Equal Opportunities Policy, the Safeguarding Policy for Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults and Data Protection Policy, with their responsibilities and duties as a Trustee explained to them.

Organisational Structure

The Trustees are responsible for all legal decisions and administer all aspects of compliance and governance. Two Creative Directors, who are not company officers, have been appointed and delegated quotidian administrative powers to manage specific projects and propose artistic strategy and budgets. The Creative Directors report to the Trustees, who have ultimate authority in decision-making and final budgetary control.

Risk Management

The major risks to which the charitable company is exposed have been identified and reviewed, and systems or procedures have been established to manage those risks. The major risks are:

Reserves Policy

The Trustees monitor their creditors each year to ensure that they have sufficient reserves to meet their ongoing liabilities. The Trustees keep a minimum of £10,000 in reserve (and normally considerably more) to cover cash flow problems which can be caused by funders who tend to withhold a percentage of funding until an evaluation has been delivered or to allow us to remain solvent in the event that a commissioning organisation does not pay us. We also keep reserves to spend on projects and activities that the Trustees deem important to the delivery of Fast Familiar’s objectives. In light of current UK issues around recession, inflation and the cost of living crisis, keeping healthy reserves is important to protect the Charitable Company from external events. At the yearend we had £97,027 in reserve.

Post Balance Sheet Events

There were no significant post balance sheet events.

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

Objectives and Activities

The objects of the charitable company are:

to advance education for the public benefit by the promotion of the arts, in particular but not exclusively by: creating experimental and playful theatre, art and performances; developing new modes of communicating with audiences through a range of media; and creating participatory training and education experiences through performance and the arts

Basis and Values

Fast Familiar make artworks which are participatory, playful and political. We design audience-centric experiences which often utilise ‘digital technology’.

We’re fascinated by human psychology in a rapidly changing world. For us, art is a space to explore questions which are too complex for daily life. We think art can be experimental and ambitious without being elitist.

The Trustees have regard to the Charity Commission’s published guidance in relation to public benefit when setting, reviewing and assessing aims for the charitable company.

Fast Familiar ensure that all public-facing activities are either free or priced in an inclusive way i.e. are economically accessible to a wide range of people. When we are working with partners and venues we negotiate with them to ensure that pricing is inclusive.

Name Change

On 30 April 2020 the charitable company changed its name to Fast Familiar. The reason for this was because fanshen is a Mandarin word. You probably wouldn"t know from how we say it, because we don"t speak Mandarin. We don"t have any links to China. A decade ago when we chose it, we liked the sound of the word and the meaning - a motion of turning. That doesn"t feel right any more. It feels like cultural appropriation. When East Asian artists are still massively underrepresented in UK theatre, what is a company led mainly by white people doing with this name?

So we are now Fast Familiar. Why? For us, art is a space to ask questions which are too complex or overwhelming for daily life. Often that"s about creating ways of reflecting on things we just don"t have time to think about - because life moves too fast for us to consider, #am I ok with that?!"or #what am I complicit in if I do this?!"or #what do I really think?!". Things are normalised so quickly, without us having had the time to think them through: a lot of our work is about problematising the fast familiar.

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

Programme

This financial year continued to be largely dominated globally by the COVID 19 pandemic. Drawing on the experience of the previous year, Fast Familiar continued to ensure we were delivering public benefit by creating artistic experiences that could be experienced online or remotely, while also developing projects that could be experienced in person when restrictions began to be eased.

During the year we created and premiered a number of new projects, including Social Sandwich , A Walk in the Park , The Curse of the Burial Dagger and Policy Pathways . We also did performances of a range of projects we had made previously, including The Window, The Doctor’s Assistant , The Evidence Chamber and Bad Altitude . In addition to all this activity, we partnered with London South Bank University to train young people in how to create multimedia performance and continued with our project The Networked Condition about the environmental impact of digital cultural production.

These activities are discussed in more detail below.

The Window

The Window is an immersive audio experience blending story, music and spatial sound. Spanning three generations and 40 years, it asks what we inherit from the past and what control we have over the future.

The Window is the recipient of one of Alzheimer"s Research UK"s inaugural Inspire Awards and a collaboration with the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing. During the previous financial year, the script writing, artistic development and socially-distanced recording of the piece took place and in this financial year it was performed in April 2021 to online audiences. People listened to the piece at home and then joined for a webinar on Zoom where they heard from Alzheimers researchers and experts recruited by Alzheimers Research UK.

The Doctor’s Assistant

The Doctor " s Assistant is a public engagement scenario game exploring near futures of data-driven healthcare. It helps researchers inform their work with public perceptions around artificial intelligence.

The Doctor"s Assistant was commissioned by Wellcome / EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences and University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre. It facilitates a small group of participants to learn about data and privacy in healthcare settings. It was developed partly through workshops with diverse groups of young people from London. It was first performed in March 2021 and was then performed five times online during 2021.

Social Sandwich

Social Sandwich is a project about online encounters with strangers - and the potential for connection rather than conflict. Instead of doom-scrolling during your lunch break, talk to someone in another country, see the world from their perspective, and make sense of the world together.

The piece was performed in September 2021. 353 people took part, using 12 languages.

The Curse of the Burial Dagger

A collaboration between the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science and Fast Familiar, T he Curse of the Burial Dagger is an interactive graphic novel murder mystery, suitable for players aged 10+. This online piece was created to help children learn about key principles of forensic science in a fun and accessible way. It has been played by families nationwide and school children in Scotland, reaching approximately 300 people. It won the 2021 Bullseye Award for “best mystery game.”

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

The Acquisitions Panel

The Acquisitions Panel is an interactive performance exploring how we choose the stories we tell about the past.During the year ending 31 March 2022 we finished making this piece and it received the Activist Museum Award. In the following financial year, we did many performances of it both in the UK and internationally and it received a Jury Special mention at Sheffield Doc Fest.

A Walk in the Park

Part story, part immersive audio experience and part walk, A Walk in the Park is a 30 minute illumination of the games we play in public spaces, and the different rules that apply, depending on who you are.

A Walk in the Park was created for Tender Absence Festival and was inspired by discussions we had about the impact of the death of Sarah Everard and how that impacted the way we felt about being alone in public spaces like parks. It was later performed as part of the Get on the Internet Festival.

Do What You Must

Do What You Must is a scenario-based tool to model better decision-making in the face of the impending risks and uncertainty of climate change. Drawing on neuroscience and social psychology, it uses immersive narrative and interactivity to equip participants with the tools for collaborative decision-making to arrive at a sustainable, scalable solutions.

Do What You Must was selected for the official Green Zone programme at COP26 in Glasgow, where it was performed in person in November 2021. It has also subsequently been performed in Exeter and London.

Policy Pathways

Policy Pathways situates the participants as an advisory body to a newly-elected Australian president, tasked with delivering on a #green jobs bonanza!"and a high profile renewable energy project. Informed by extensive workshops with policy advisors and NGOs, Policy Pathways takes participants through different policy lever options, equipping them with new perspectives and arguments to make when they return to their domestic context. It was performed online several times during COP 26 in partnership with Chatham House, with policy makers from around the world participating. It has subsequently been performed in person at Chatham House, University College London and elsewhere.

David’s Bad Day

David"s Bad Day is a choose-your-own-misadventure augmented reality comedy about the perils of modern life. During the year we began work on this project and work continued on it in the following financial year.

Bad Altitude

A puzzle game with a sense of humour, set aboard the world " s most underprepared airline. Help flight attendant Rhys as he wrangles over-demanding VIP passengers, escaped anxiety pets and his own luckless love life. Can you be his wingman? Work with your friends to solve puzzles, crack codes and avert death by discount airline. Bad Altitude was released during the previous year but continued to be played by online audiences steadily throughout this financial year.

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

The Evidence Chamber

The Evidence Chamber was a collaboration with the Leverhulme Centre for Research in Forensic Science at the University of Dundee. This piece, in which the audience form a jury considering a difficult case where the case for the prosecution rests on forensic evidence, had been performed face to face in 2019. In 2020 we had adapted it to create an online version that people could play online from their laptops, featuring an integrated video calling service, which received a series of rave reviews. In this financial year we did a few one off performances of the piece online, including as part of Edinburgh Science Festival.

Company in Residence at London South Bank University

We were invited to be company in residence at London South Bank University, collaborating with over 50 young people to create three online performances exploring the lives of young people in mid-pandemic London.

The Networked Condition

Since the start of 2020, Fast Familiar, Abandon Normal Devices and Arts Catalyst have been collaborating on The Networked Condition: Environmental Impacts of Digital Cultural Production, a collaborative research project exploring digital arts through an environmental lens.. As part of the project, we have undertaken a series of case study interviews with artists exploring the environmental impact of digital cultural production, which we published on our websites and also undertook our own research, documenting the process of lowering the carbon footprint of our own projects and sharing that documentation online. We have also created a carbon calculator to help people plan digital arts projects in a more environmentally responsible way. We have spoken at a wide range of industry events, both online and in person to raise awareness of these issues and the research we have been doing.

Financial Review

Total income for the year was £148,588. This was our largest annual income to date and reflects the increasing number of artworks we are creating. Total expenditure for the year was £138,927. Restricted funds of £5,000 remained at the year end, ear marked for the Four Nations Project. This left an unrestricted surplus of £91,667.

Public Benefit

The Trustees are satisfied that the performances of The Window, T he Doctor’s Assistant , Social Sandwic h, The Curse of the Burial Dagger , The Acquisitions Panel, A Walk in the Park , Do What You Must , Policy Pathways and The Evidence Chamber provided considerable public benefit. In doing so, the Trustees feel that the objective to advance education for the public benefit by the promotion of the arts was achieved by the activities carried out in the year. The performances of The Doctor’s Assistant and some of the performances of Do What You Must were free of charge. All other performances were priced inclusively.

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

Plans for the Future

We have 6 key aims for the year ahead:

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Company law requires the Trustees (as directors of Fast Familiar) to prepare Financial Statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the surplus or deficit of the charitable company for that year. In preparing those Financial Statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Trustees are also responsible for keeping adequate reserves.

On behalf of the Board

…………………………………… C Twite - Chair/ Trustee

Date: …………………………19/12/2022

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

Fast Familiar Limited Statement of Financial Activities (Including Income and Expenditure Account) Year ended 31 March 2022 Company number: 06191989 Registered Charity Number: 1120667

The statement of financial activities also complies with the requirements for an income and expenditure account under the Companies Act 2006. All activities are classed as continuing. There are no recognised gains or losses other than those reported on the Statement of Financial Activities. The notes on pages 13 to 15 form part of these Financial Statements.

tatements.
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Total Income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Other (governance costs)
Total Expenditure
Net gains on investments
Net income/ expenditure
Transfers between funds
Other recognised gains
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward
Notes Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
2022
Total
2021
Total
48
-
48
-
2
3
87,392
61,148
148,540
146,58
0
87,440
61,148
148,588
146,58
0
68,810
69,409
138,219
129,71
1
708
-
708
373
69,518
69,409
138,927
130,08
4
-
-
-
-
17,922
-8,261
9,661
16,496
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
17,922
-8,261
9,661
16,496
73,745
13,261
87,006
70,510
91,667
5,000
96,667
87,006

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

Fast Familiar Limited Balance Sheet at 31 March 2022 Company Number: 06191989 Registered Charity Number: 1120667

t Familiar Limited
ance Sheet at 31 March 2022
mpany Number: 06191989
gistered Charity Number: 1120667
2022 2021
Notes Total Funds Total Funds
Current Assets:
Prepayments - -
Cash at bank and in hand 97,027 87,336
Total Current Assets 97,027 87,366
Liabilities:
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 5 360 360
Deferred income - -
Total Liabilities 360 360
Net Assets 96,667 87,006
The Funds of the Charity:
Restricted Income Funds 5,000 13,261
Unrestricted Income Funds 91,667 73,745
Total Charity Funds 6 96,667 87,006

The company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2022.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for:

(a) ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of each financial year and of its financial activities during each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the company.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

19/12/2022

The financial statements were approved by the directors on …………….. and were signed by:

……………………………….. C Twite - Chair/ Trustee

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

Notes to the Financial Statements

1) Accounting Policies

1.1 Basis of preparation

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Statement of Recommended Practice, "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" (FRS102), effective from 2015 and the Companies Act 2006.

1.2 Incoming resources

Donations, grants and other forms of voluntary income are recognised as incoming resources on a receipts basis.

Investment income is accounted for on a receivable basis.

1.3 Resources expended

Resources expended are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an actual basis, with irrecoverable Value Added Tax included with the item of expenditure to which it relates.

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them. These include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include independent examination fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.

1.4 Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Fixed assets are capitalised only when their cost is greater than £500. No items have yet been capitalised.

1.5 Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the Trustees. Restricted funds are to be used for particular restricted purposes within the objectives of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

1.6 Going Concern

It is the Trustees’ responsibility to prepare the Financial Statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business. Fast Familiar is currently a going concern and there are no plans to wind down the charitable company.

1.7 Cash flow statement

In accordance with FRS 102 the charity is not required to show a cash flow statement and has not done so.

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

2) Income from charitable activities

)Income from charitable activities
Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
2022 Total 2021 Total
£ £ £ £
Income from charitable activities:
Primary Purpose Trading (Ticket sales, fees,
commissions)
87,440 87,440 73,173
Local Authority - - -
Other Public Grants 61,148 61,148 48,006
Trusts and Foundations - - 26,400
Total Income from Charitable Activities 87,440 61,148 148,588 146,580

3) Total resources expended

Staff Costs Other Costs Total 2022 Total 2021
£ £ £ £
Cost of Charitable
Activities
- 138,219 138,219 129,711
Governance Costs - 708 708 373
Total Expenditure - 138,927 138,927 130,084

4) Trustees’ and Members’ Remuneration and Benefits

No remuneration was paid to any trustee during the year nor were any expenses reimbursed. In terms of the members of the company, Dan Barnard was paid £23,600 in fees for his artistic and producing work on Fast Familiar’s projects and Rachel Briscoe was paid £34,641 in fees for her artistic and lead producing work on Fast Familiar’s projects.

5) Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Total 2022 Total 2021
£ £
Accruals 360 360
Deferred Income - -
360 360

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Fast Familiar Limited | Report of the Trustees Year from 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022

6) Funds

)Funds
Balance at 1
April 2021
Incoming
resources
Resources
expended
Transfers Balance at 31
March 2022
£ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted
funds
73,745 87,440 69,518 - 91,667
Restricted
funds
Arts Council 13,261 25,812 39,073 - -
Mediafutures - 30,336 30,336 - -
Creative
Scotland
- 5,000 - - 5,000

The Arts Council grants were spent on developing The Curse of the Burial Dagger and undertake a range of organizational development activities. The Mediafutures grant was spent on creating Social Sandwich.

Near the year end, we were awarded a grant from Creative Scotland to undertake knowledge-sharing and research and development with Play: Vienna and An Tobar and Mull Theatre as part of the Four Nations project, which will be delivered in the next financial year.

7) Uncertainties

There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue.

8) Assets

The charitable company has no material assets other than cash and no investments.

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VAst Vamlllgr Llmlted l Report ofih¢ Trustees Year fmm l April 2021- 31. Mar¢h 2022 Independent examlner's report to tbe trustee5 of F4st Fgmlllar Llmlted I r6POrt to the Ch￿]ty tNst¢¢$ on my examinatio￿ of the a¢¢owJls of Fast Famillar LiEnited for the year ellded 31 Mar¢h 2022. R￿POnSIbIlItIeS and b￿18 ot report A$ tlie charity's iwste¢s ofthe Company (alld 81s0 its dire¢lors for tbe p￿￿ose$ of the company law) yi are re8ponslbl¢ for the preparation of the acwunts u) gccordance with the r¢quiremertts of the Charities Act 2011 {Ihe Act?. Havin8 $atisfied myself that the 8ccounts of the Cornpany ore not requwed to be audited UDdeY P4rt 16 of tho 2006 A¢t and 4r¢ eligible for ind¢p¢ndeni exaniination, Y report in T¢5pe¢t of my examination of yowr charlry's accounts a5 carri¢d out under section 145 of th¢ Charliies Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act,). ID cyrrying out my exAmination, I have followed the directions given by tho Charity Commi5sioo uttder secil*)ll 145(5)0)) of tbe Act. Ihdependent examlnor'$ 3l&tement I hay¢ ¢o]npleted my examination. I confm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examinatlon giving me cause tt> believe.. l. Aceoun¢ing r¢¢ord8 were not kept in re5P¢Ct of the company &5 reqllI￿d by section 386 of the 2006 Ad. or 2, The accounts do not accoNI with th080 records. or 3. The accounts do not ¢omply with the Ac¢ountlng requirements of se¢tlon 396 of the 2006 Act oilier th￿ any req￿j￿¢ment that the accounts gly¢ a try¢ and fair view which is not a matter ¢on8id¢red as p8rt of UD independent examlnation 4. The a¢¢ounts have not been pt¢par¢d in accordance Ivith tb¢ methods and priticiples of the Ststementof Recommended Pra¢tt¢e for accounting and reporting by charitles [appli¢Able to ¢lMrities prep8Ting their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)] I have no concerns and hav¢ ¢ome acrossno oth¢ro)4tters in eonnection wilh the ¢x&minatlon lo wbi¢h att￿tIon should ￿ drawm in thi5 r¢port order lo enable &piop¢r w)derstonding of the accounts to be reached. asvijider Sa800 (FCCA) Asso¢iAtlon of Chartered C¢rtified Ac¢owktattts (ACCA) Johal & Company . Spectnmi House 2B Suttons 'Hornchur¢h RM12 61U Dat¢,,