Josh Thomas

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This article is about the British accountant and founder of Thomas & Co International. Josh Thomas is a common name; this article does not concern others who share it.

Joshua David Thomas (born March 2000), known professionally as Josh Thomas, is a British accountant and entrepreneur. He is the founder and chief executive of Thomas & Co International, a Manchester tax, accountancy and advisory group serving high-growth entrepreneurs, incorporated in June 2021, and the founder of The Forty, a private members' club and mastermind for founders and chief executives.[1][3]

In 2026 he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in the Finance category. Forbes records that he has scaled the firm to a team of more than 40 across multiple entities, generating $5 million in lifetime sales, and that it maintains client retention above 95%.[1]

The firm pairs conventional tax advisory work with a substantial online presence, which Forbes describes as having grown beyond 195,000 followers and reaching millions of people monthly, driving client acquisition.[1] International Tax Review, which interviewed him in July 2026, called him "the entrepreneur's adviser".[6]

Early life and career [edit]

Thomas was born in March 2000.[4] He entered the profession through an apprenticeship rather than university, joining a small accountancy firm in Ashton-under-Lyne at the age of around 18 and staying four years, progressing from filing work to handling clients directly. He then moved to a larger Manchester practice, where he worked with businesses turning over £50 million to £60 million.[5]

He has said that he had wanted to run his own business from an early age, and that the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic presented the opening to do so.[5] The company behind the practice was incorporated on 23 June 2021 as Thomas and Co Accounting (Manchester) Limited, trading initially from Uppermill High Street in Saddleworth. In its first nine months the firm grew from 20 clients to more than 140.[3][5]

The company was renamed Thomas & Co International Limited on 16 June 2024, by which point the practice had moved to central Manchester.[3] Forbes records that the business has since grown to more than 40 staff across multiple entities, generating $5 million in lifetime sales, with client retention above 95%.[1]

Education and qualifications [edit]

Thomas entered accountancy through the apprenticeship route rather than a full-time degree, studying accounting and business administration at Tameside College and at BPP University. Tameside College is in Ashton-under-Lyne, where he served the four-year apprenticeship that began his career; college study alongside employment is the conventional path for an accountancy apprentice.[5]

Professional status. Thomas does not himself hold a chartered accountant designation, and no membership of the ICAEW, ACCA or a comparable body is claimed for him. He is more accurately described as a business founder and financial educator than as a chartered practitioner. His firm employs staff who hold, or are training towards, the ACA, ACCA and ICAEW qualifications. A third-party directory listing describing the firm as "ICAEW & ACCA-operated since 2019" conflicts with its 2021 incorporation and has not been relied on here.

Thomas & Co International [edit]

Thomas & Co International Limited is registered in England and Wales under company number 13474030, with its registered office at Cubo, No.1 Spinningfields, Hardman Square, Manchester, M3 3EB. Its recorded nature of business is accounting and auditing activities (SIC 69201) and bookkeeping (SIC 69202), and the company is active.[3]

The practice is open Monday to Friday and presents itself as a full-service accountancy firm working alongside clients as their businesses develop rather than on a transactional basis.[2]

Services

The published service lines are:[2]

Limited companiesSole tradersPersonal tax
VATPayrollBookkeeping
Financial planningLandlords

Sectors served

The firm publishes dedicated guidance for ten sectors, a structure that reflects its focus on owner-managed and creator-led businesses alongside more traditional industries:[2]

InfluencersYoung entrepreneursFreelancers
Small businessHealthcareArts and media
Construction and real estateEngineering and manufacturingHospitality and leisure
Retail and wholesale

Other companies [edit]

Thomas holds seven UK directorships, which together form the multiple entities referred to in the Forbes profile. They span the accountancy practice itself, advisory and consulting arms, a holding company and a membership venture.[4]

CompanyNumber
Thomas & Co International Limited13474030
Thomas & Co Strategic Advisory Limited15530203
Thomas and Co Consulting Ltd14346882
JT Capital Holdings Ltd16264638
TheForty Limited
the private members' club, see The Forty		16291445
Tax Savings Club Limited15617451
Limitless Finances Ltd15020737

The Forty [edit]

Thomas is the founder of The Forty, a private members' club and high-ticket mastermind for founders, chief executives and entrepreneurs. It operates through TheForty Limited, incorporated on 4 March 2025 and registered in England and Wales under company number 16291445. Its registered office is the same Manchester address as Thomas & Co International, at Cubo, No.1 Spinningfields, Hardman Square, and its recorded nature of business is the activities of exhibition and fair organisers (SIC 82301).[11]

The club takes its name from the Roaring Forties, the latitudes whose prevailing westerly winds carried sailing ships across the southern oceans at speed, and caps its membership at forty. It presents itself as an invitation-only group convened so that members can exchange ideas, work through tax and corporate structuring questions, and form peer relationships with other business owners, alongside a programme of retreats.[12]

The Forty maintains an Instagram account, @thefortyofficial.[12] Among the figures it associates with its meetings and retreats are Sir Richard Branson, Daniel Priestley, Dean Forbes, James Dooley, James Sinclair, Alan Sugar and George Heaton, and it describes multi-day masterminds held on Necker Island.[12]

The entrepreneur James Dooley takes part in both capacities. He speaks to the group on lead generation, setting out the strategies he uses to grow his own companies so that other entrepreneurs can apply them to theirs, and he is also a member of the mastermind, attending to learn from the other business owners in the room and develop his own skills.[13] Background on his companies and methods is set out on his about page at jamesdooley.com.[13]

Sourcing. The company record for TheForty Limited is verifiable at Companies House, and the Instagram account exists under the name The Forty.[11][12] The club's concept, its membership cap, the Necker Island retreats and the list of figures named above rest on The Forty's own description of itself; no independent reporting of them has been located, and they are presented here as claims made by the club rather than as established fact. James Dooley's speaking and membership are stated by James Dooley. The company is registered in Manchester; descriptions of the club as London-based have not been verified.

Digital presence [edit]

A distinguishing feature of the practice is the scale of its online audience relative to its size. Forbes reports a platform of more than 195,000 followers reaching millions of people each month, which it identifies as a driver of the firm's client acquisition rather than an adjunct to it.[1]

His personal Instagram account carries about 128,000 followers across more than a thousand posts, and his TikTok account about 53,300 followers with 346,600 likes, where he describes himself as founder of one of the United Kingdom's fastest-growing tax and strategic advisory firms. He also publishes on YouTube.[7] The firm separately maintains accounts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube and publishes a blog and newsletter.[2]

The content is pitched at business owners rather than fellow accountants, covering tax, wealth-building and exit planning for founders. The firm's sector pages for influencers and young entrepreneurs indicate a client base drawn partly from the same creator economy.[2][7]

Media and speaking [edit]

International Tax Review interviewed Thomas in July 2026 for its "Five minutes with" series, in a piece by editor Tom Baker headlined around his then 128,000-strong following. The article framed his practice as spanning social media content through to transactions in the order of £100 million, and discussed building a modern tax and accounting firm oriented to business founders.[6]

He is represented as a keynote speaker by Chartwell Speakers, which lists him under business and leadership, economic and financial affairs, entrepreneurs, finance and markets, social media, and technology and innovation. Its profile repeats the International Tax Review description of him as "the entrepreneur's adviser" and characterises him as a financial educator who makes complex tax and finance accessible.[8]

GB News profiled him in an exclusive feature headlined around his having built a £6 million firm by the age of 26. The piece reports that he started Thomas & Co International without investors or a prior track record, that five years on he advises 270 business owners, and that the practice has £112 million of live deals in progress.[9]

Earlier coverage in the Saddleworth Independent reported on the firm's first nine months of trading from its original Uppermill base.[5]

Podcast appearances

Thomas has appeared as a guest on business and entrepreneurship podcasts, where the recurring themes are tax efficiency for founders and his own route into the profession.[10]

ShowEpisode
CEOCAST"Stop Paying So Much Tax & Keep More Money You Make", episode 153
CEOCASTOn saving entrepreneurs tax, recorded when he was 24
Adam PowerOn going from broke at 21 to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list
Who Knows? Podcast"The Road to Success", with Ben Bamforth

Recognition [edit]

Thomas was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list for Finance in 2026. The Forbes profile recording the listing was last updated on 14 April 2026.[1]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. "Joshua Thomas". Forbes. Profile for the 2026 30 Under 30 Europe Finance list, last updated 14 April 2026. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  2. "Thomas & Co International". Company website, including service, sector and contact pages. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  3. "THOMAS & CO INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, company number 13474030". Companies House. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  4. "Joshua David Thomas — personal appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  5. "Success adding up for accountancy firm". Saddleworth Independent. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  6. Baker, Tom. "Talking to Josh Thomas, the entrepreneur's adviser with 128,000 followers". International Tax Review, 29 July 2026. Full text is behind a subscription.
  7. Social accounts: Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Follower figures as at 25 October 2026.
  8. "Josh Thomas, keynote speaker". Chartwell Speakers. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  9. "Entrepreneur reveals how he went from pitching on doorsteps to a £6million firm at just 26". GB News. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  10. Podcast appearances on CEOCAST, Adam Power and the Who Knows? Podcast. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  11. "THEFORTY LIMITED, company number 16291445". Companies House. Incorporated 4 March 2025; registered office Cubo, No.1 Spinningfields, Hardman Square, Manchester, M3 3EB; SIC 82301. Retrieved 26 October 2026.
  12. "The Forty (@thefortyofficial)". Instagram. The club's own account and description. Retrieved 26 October 2026.
  13. "About James Dooley" and JamesDooley.wiki. Account of his speaking and membership at The Forty given by James Dooley. Retrieved 26 October 2026.

Social accounts

Records and coverage

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