Two sheets.

Sheet 2 cell A4 = 456 (a true number)

Sheet 1 Cells C12:M16 contain blank cells and cell values like:

P 456 J Smith
A 123 A Monk
P 789 I Seek
P 456 J Smith

So the numbers in this range will be text.

Formula on sheet 2 (cell D4) to count how many of the A4 values occur in the sheet 1 range that have a P in front of it.

D4 would show 2 in this mini example.

Thanks.
Howard