Stu Bell is a partner at Dodd & Co Chartered Accountants, splitting his time between their Carlisle and Penrith offices. 

What does your job involve? 

Looking after our clients and their businesses and assisting them with anything and everything they need to help their businesses. The statutory accounts and tax returns are our bread and butter, but with ever evolving technology it allows us to be extra pro-active discussing real time issues with real time financial information to hand. 

I drive a…. 

Peugeot 5008. Not really into my cars but it fits three children’s car seats nicely and that’s top of the wish list when it comes to cars at present! 

Who would you invite to your dream meal? (Six people, alive or dead) 

Bit of a random mix but let’s go with Roy Keane, Brian Clough, Freddie Flintoff, Sean Lock, Kevin Bridges and Gordon Ramsay (he can cook). Sure, it would be a good laugh! 

My favourite TV programme is...In Cumbria: Former footballer Stu Bell, who is now a partner at Dodd & Co Chartered Accountants Former footballer Stu Bell, who is now a partner at Dodd & Co Chartered Accountants (Image: Stu Bell)

Can’t beat Only Fools and Horses, never fails to make me laugh. 

Most memorable meal or favourite food? 

My go-to favourite food on a weekend is homemade pizza in the pizza oven! 

My idea of a great weekend involves… 

Spending time with my young family, couple of beers catching up with friends and catching some live sport action somewhere in between. 

Which sport do you follow and who do you support? 

I enjoy and follow most sports but my go to is the football. For my sins, I follow Manchester United, it’s been a grim last few years. 

Favourite pub, café or restaurant in Cumbria 

Living in Scotby, when we get can get a babysitter we enjoy going to the restaurant in the village, Fini’s Kitchen which does the best seafood platter! 

Favourite walk in Cumbria 

Having young children limits our options but we get across to Tarn Hows a couple of times of year which is a lovely place. The kids also love the Gruffalo Trail at Whinlatter! 

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know 

I used to be a professional footballer for Carlisle United and made a few first team appearances in the 2001/02 season but unfortunately, I had to retire with a knee injury at 18 years old. 

Early riser or enjoy a lie-in? 

Definitely a lie-in, though they are unfortunately few and far between nowadays!  

How important is social media to you and what channels do you use? 

I have Facebook to keep up to date with friends and family and I also have LinkedIn for work related posts and contacts. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s important to me, however I do understand how influential it can be in people’s lives and with my business head on it can be a huge driver in sales for businesses. I would actively encourage business owners to ensure they have a presence on some form of social media. 

Apart from a mobile phone, which piece of technology has improved your life in the last couple of years? 

It’s a pretty boring answer but the advances in cloud accounting technology over the past few years have made my working life a lot more interesting and enjoyable, and allow me to have closer relationships with my clients, assisting them with financial decisions.