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During the pandemic Middlesex academic Toby York founded Accounting Cafe to bring educators together and it now has more than 2,000 members

An independent global community of accounting educators and learners which grew rapidly after being founded during Covid by Middlesex University academic Toby York has won a major industry award for innovation. Accounting Cafe won the Innovation in Accountancy Award at the PQ Magazine Awards 2026.  

In 2021 during the pandemic Accounting Cafe was launched with the aim of bringing together educators from schools, universities, and professional training providers so they could meet, share ideas, and have a greater say in the wider profession.

Since being founded, Accounting Cafe now has more than 2,000 members, has put 400-plus educators through its courses, and runs a financial education programme for 16–19-year-olds in 30 schools and colleges.

The community is led by three people, namely Toby who manages the community side, Paul Jennings who looks after education and practice, and Stuart Pedley-Smith who deals with strategy and partnerships – and is a PQ Magazine Lecturer of the Year.

“I set it up in Lockdown, when we were all sent home and couldn’t see each other anymore,” explains Toby, a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at Middlesex University. “I just thought it would be a good idea for academics, across institutions, to keep in touch and it just sort of snowballed. I started by putting an event on LinkedIn and within three days around six to seven hundred people had signed up.
“We have become a very well-known, well-loved community. Accounting Cafe carries no institutional agenda, costs nothing to join, and is driven entirely by its members. There's a genuine sense of freedom — and of belonging. It provides a space for people that can't really be provided anywhere else."

The team behind Accounting Cafe has been invited to speak at events organised by the International Federation of Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Its website carries more than 100 articles written by accounting educators. Accounting Cafe also holds in-person events which feature short presentations and open workshops.

“If people come to our events whether online or in person, they are surprised by the generosity of spirit. We are not trying to promote a curriculum or a particular way of teaching. So much of an academic's life is measured by metrics and credentials. This is very different — the focus is on what makes educators genuinely better at what they do: creating knowledge together, connecting with colleagues they would never otherwise meet, and having a real say in how the profession develops."

Toby York

The award has drawn recognition from the accounting education community. Peter Frampton described Accounting Cafe as "a unique and wonderful gathering of generous people," while academic Jenni Rose said it was "wonderful to see the community getting the recognition it deserves."

Toby says he was particularly pleased to be recognised for non-technological innovation. "What the award recognised is that people in a room can be innovative, creative, and make a real difference — and it doesn't necessarily have to be about technology. Something so community-based, grassroots and organic being recognised as innovative feels exactly right, because in a sense it is very old-fashioned: getting people together to talk about how to change things, and then actually doing it."

Accounting Cafe is planning to grow even bigger in future.
"Had you told me we would be here five years ago, I would have been amazed," says Toby. "But here we are, and with a community of energetic supporters who will take it much further."

Find out more on the and find out more about studying Accounting, Finance and Economics courses at Middlesex University.