Rangiora

Jason Stapley

A Chartered Accountant since 2009, Jason has experience in a Big 4 accounting firm, a large Australian privately held property group, and before joining Sidekick in 2018 was the Financial Controller for Mike Greer Homes.

Alongside his experience in the property sector, Jason enjoys helping clients achieve success in the construction industry and meeting people who have an entrepreneurial mindset.

Jason enjoys spending time with his young family on his lifestyle property in Mandeville, playing social football, and watching most sports, especially cricket on the telly!

Katie Moratti

Katie joined the Sidekick team after completing her Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Canterbury in 2021, majoring in Accounting with a minor in Human Resources. She is now on the path to becoming a qualified Chartered Accountant.

A local to the area, Katie has lived in Rangiora for most of her life. She enjoys being actively involved in her community and currently serves on the Board of the Saracens Rugby Football Club.

In her spare time, Katie loves reading, watching her children and friends play sport, and holidaying in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds.

As a Shareholder of our Rangiora office, Katie is proud to be part of the Sidekick Group. She is dedicated to helping clients thrive by providing them and their businesses with strong, supportive guidance.

She combines friendly, hands-on support with the latest accounting technology to help business owners stay organised, save time, and make smarter decisions.

Jayne

Jayne joined the Sidekick Rangiora in November 2019 as the Client Service Manager. Originally from the UK, she used to run her own successful delivery company, which has given her a great basis to understand, guide and provide the necessary assistance to help build successful businesses for our clients.

Jayne also brings a wealth of administration qualities that she’s gained from working in the Medical, Recruitment and Healthcare sectors and she has a real passion for providing assistance to others.

Jayne lives local to the office with her husband and daughter and most importantly the office dog Marley. She loves going to the movies, shopping and travelling around the amazing sites that New Zealand has to offer.

Lauren Sawtell 

A Chartered Accountant since 2014, Lauren has experience in large and medium sized accounting firms, and was Financial Controller for a Body Corporate Management firm before joining Sidekick.

Lauren enjoys spending time with her daughter and her family, going for walks and enjoying nature. She has a passion for all things Japan, especially cooking, and she enjoys travelling there where she can.

Lauren enjoys working with local businesses and helping them grow.

Liam Goodwin

Liam joined Sidekick following his experience at a medium-sized firm in Christchurch. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, majoring in Accounting and Taxation, from the University of Canterbury and is currently working toward his Chartered Accountant qualification through CAANZ.

Outside of the office, Liam is passionate about all forms of biking. He’s actively involved in the community as one of the event organisers for Hedge Fest and serves on the board of the North Canterbury BMX Club.

Ric Thorpe

Ric Thorpe is one of the owners of Sidekick Chartered Accountancy Group. Ric is one of the leads in the 20-strong Christchurch team, as well as assisting the Sidekick group across the South Island, which now has offices in six locations and over 50 team members (with an additional 15+ overseas). Ric has been instrumental in fostering the incredible family-like team culture at Sidekick and helping grow the business by spreading the word of Fixed-Fee, Modern Accountancy across the country. Ric has also held roles in governance and strategy for not-for-profit organisations, membership organisations such as the Christchurch Business Club, as well as within the Sidekick Group.

Traditionally, Ric has been at the front end of Sidekick as the sales expert, building referral networks and solution partners across many industries. Since 2020, Ric has been predominantly Christchurch-based (which can largely be attributed to the Covid-19 situation). Now, as CEO, Ric’s role is consulting to small and medium businesses, working with clients to help them grow and driving the growth of Sidekick across the country with new office locations and recruitment!

A key thing for Ric is culture. If you have the right people and they all have a common purpose along with respect and love for one another, your business should thrive!

Helen Pauley

Helen is a Marlburian who has travelled the world and landed back here. Having a varied work life from managing a regional office for a multi-national advertising firm, owning a hospitality business to practice management of a medical practice, Helen brings a bucket load of skills. Communication is her flag ship skill and she enjoys problem solving. Resourceful and fun, pretty much sums her up.

She is married to Gary, who is a Business Advisor and in their spare time they love to travel to family & friends, experience the great outdoors and discovering new recipes and flavours, accompanied by a glass of fine wine.

Steph Holt

Steph is the creative mind behind Sidekick’s brand – making sure everything from marketing campaigns to internal events reflects who we are and what we stand for. With over 15 years of experience in design and strategy, she loves finding fresh, meaningful ways to bring the Sidekick story to life. From shaping how our brand looks and feels to creating moments that connect our team and clients, Steph brings a mix of curiosity, energy, and heart to everything she does.

Outside of work, Steph enjoys spending time with her son Ollie and tending to her ever-growing veggie patch – a creative outlet that balances her busy, design-filled days.

Manoli De Silva

Manoli keeps the team running smoothly, making sure all the day-to-day details are taken care of. She has a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of London and a master’s in international relations from the University of Colombo, she has worked across law firms, UN agencies, and the government sector. Her experience in different environments gives her a strong eye for detail and a knack for keeping things organised and on track.

A massive foodie, Manoli loves cooking and trying out new restaurants. She also enjoys running and staying active, and likes to unwind with a good book and a glass of wine. Most of all, she treasures spending time with her husband and their two young daughters. 

Anna Cochrane

Anna brings a wealth of experience in accounting tech, with a strong focus on FYI and Xero. Having worked closely with firms across New Zealand to implement systems and streamline processes, she’s a go-to expert when it comes to getting the most out of your tech stack.
Anna is passionate about solving problems, improving workflows, and helping teams work smarter. Now based in Timaru to be closer to family, Anna supports Sidekick on a range of internal projects—bringing her trademark energy, insight, and practical know-how to every challenge.