The people behind
the numbers
Orange Umbrella was built by two people who believed business owners deserved better. Better advice, better systems, and an accountant who actually picks up the phone.
Business has changed. Most accountancy hasn't. Not long ago, most small businesses had a cash book and a carrier bag of receipts. Now the same business might have Xero, a card machine, a receipts app, a booking or job system, payroll software and online banking. Each one promises to save time, but only if the software is connected properly and the way people work changes to match.
Most owners were never shown how to do that. They bought the software, carried on working the old way, and ended up doing the same jobs twice. Most accountants were trained to prepare accounts once the year is over, not to design how the numbers get there in the first place. So if your accountant only gets involved at year end, they're tidying up the results of a process they never see.
That's not because they're a bad accountant. Fixing the process is a different job from the one they were trained for, and it's why the same mess comes back every year.
Meet the founders
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Justin Turner
Founder & Director
Justin Turner is an accountant, author, and systems thinker who has spent over a decade helping small business owners stop drowning in admin and start running proper businesses.
Before accountancy, Justin trained as a computer programmer and ran a web development agency for over ten years. That background shapes everything about how Orange Umbrella works — built on modern cloud systems, smart integrations, and processes designed for real life rather than textbooks.
He co-founded Orange Umbrella with Sue in 2013 and has grown it into a practice of 8 people serving owner-managed businesses across the North East and beyond.
Justin writes the I Hate My Business book series — Book 1, That'll Do, covers the tech your business depends on, and Book 2, Whoever Shouts Loudest, covers the finance side and is out this winter. He also teaches on the government-backed Help to Grow: Management programme at Northumbria University.
He is also the Financial Director of a local letting agency and a portfolio landlord himself — which means he understands the pressures his clients face not just professionally, but personally.
Outside work, Justin is a committed triathlete and spends as much time as possible in a campervan with Sue and their two boys, somewhere between a race finish line and a missed turning.
Explore Justin's books
Sue Turner
Co-Founder & Director
Sue Turner is the reason Orange Umbrella exists.
She started as a sole trader bookkeeper, building her own practice from scratch. Justin was helping her get started but was still running his web agency. In 2013 they incorporated together, a decision prompted by needing to take on staff to cover Sue's maternity leave when they were expecting their first child. That one decision turned a two-person operation into something bigger.
Before bookkeeping, Sue spent four years as a qualified teacher in one of the North East's most challenging schools — an experience that gave her something most accountants don't have: real patience, genuine empathy, and the ability to explain complicated things simply to people under pressure.
She holds IAB bookkeeping qualifications and has been trusted with finances well beyond the practice — serving for years as treasurer of a local running club.
Today Orange Umbrella is a team of 8, still built on the same belief Sue started with — that business owners deserve proper support, not just a set of accounts once a year.
Outside work, Sue is a run leader and proud mum to two boys.
Our promise to you
We pick up the phone
Honest, direct communication. No hiding behind emails.
We build proper systems
Not just accounts. We help your whole business run better.
We genuinely care
Behind every set of accounts is a person under real pressure. We never forget that.
Where do you want to start?
Ready to talk
Book a free call. We'll look at your numbers and your Xero with you, with no obligation.
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Just looking
Get to know how Justin thinks first, with free videos on business systems, Xero and Making Tax Digital, and the I Hate My Business books.
