What do you do?

I help businesses work out their tax position and make sure they’re getting it right. That can be anything from their corporation tax and year-end reporting through to more complicated international tax issues, transactions or changes to their business. A big part of my job is taking something that can be pretty technical and making it understandable and practical for the people I’m working with. I’ve spent time on both sides of the fence – at HMRC, in-house and as an adviser – so I tend to look at things from a few different angles rather than just giving the textbook tax answer. I’m also really interested in how we can use AI and technology to take some of the repetitive work out of tax, so we can spend more time actually helping clients solve problems.

WhY do you do IT?

I pretty much fell into tax. I studied science at university, but by my final year I’d decided I’d rather spend my days in a suit rather than a lab coat. Tax wasn’t exactly the grand plan, but I quickly realised I enjoyed the problem-solving side of it. No two businesses are quite the same, and there’s usually a complicated problem somewhere that needs unpicking and turning into something people can actually understand. I’ve stuck with it ever since – although these days there’s a lot less suit involved!

WhAT KINDS OF PROJECTS HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN?

I’ve been lucky enough to get involved in a real mix over the years. I’ve worked with large banks and multinational businesses on everything from international restructures and acquisitions to tax reporting, due diligence and helping businesses navigate some pretty complicated tax rules. I’ve also seen tax from pretty much every angle – investigating businesses while at HMRC, advising them at Big Four firms and then sitting on the other side of the table working in-house.

WhAT’S ON TOP OF YOUR BUCKET LIST? 

Probably more travel as the kids get older and we can start exploring a bit further afield. I’ve been lucky enough to visit some amazing places already – last year I went to Thailand and gave Muay Thai a go, which was an experience! There’s no single destination at the top of the list. I’d just like to keep seeing new places, experiencing different cultures and hopefully having a few more adventures along the way.