The Professional Speaks

Ross Stupart: Leadership in times of crisis

In this episode I am joined by Ross Stupart who is Regional Managing Partner for Scotland & Northern Ireland AND Regional Head of Tax at RSM - a global audit, tax and consulting professional services firm.   Topics discussed include what his steepest learning curves have been, what targets he set himself as a tax leader and what skills the senior tax leaders of tomorrow should have. Outline: 00:00-05:02: Intro and background 05:03- 07:20: His role as regional Managing Partner for Scotland and Northern Ireland at RSM 07:21-18:50: Career journey between professional services and industry 18:51-21:31: What is the most important skill a tax advisor should have? 21:32-31:15: Learning in times of crisis as a leader 31:16-39:00: Managing targets set by a firm and setting personal targets to further help clients, current and new 39:01-END: Personal and professional goals for the next 12 months ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Lynne Walker: The life of a CEO: Leading one of the UK’s largest Accountancy LLP’s

Lynne Walker is CEO of Johnston Carmichael, which is a UK Accountancy firm of just under 1,000 people. Unlike many CEOs of such a business, she lives in a town of 10,000 people in the north of Scotland. Topics discussed include how she manages work and life whilst leading and driving the business forward, how the role of CEO has evolved over the last 5 years and her advice on opening new doors whilst not closing doors behind you.  Timings of episode 00:00-02:23: Introduction and background 02:24-07:20: The journey from Partner to CEO 07:21-10:08: Understanding board-level decisions and challenges of being a CEO  10:09-12:29: How has the CEO role evolved over the last 5 years? 12:30-15:25: How does Lynne manage being the CEO of nearly 1,000 people across the UK when she lives in a small town in the north of Scotland?  15:26-18:57: Taking chances and being adaptable to fulfil ambition  18:58-21:53: 90 years of Johnston Carmichael 21:54-23:42: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Andrew Holloway: Growing a brand with no market presence in a particular region

Andrew Holloway is a Tax Partner & Head of Equity Rewards & Venture Capital Schemes at Cooper Parry which is a UK-based advisory and accountancy firm, backed by US private equity firm, Lee Equity Partners. Interestingly, he was employee no.1 of the firm in Scotland (which at the time had over 2,000 employees based in England) but that was nearly a year after he had turned down an offer to join them. So, what changed for him? What changed for them? Why did he join with no other colleagues to work alongside in his region?  Tune in to hear so much more from this super interesting and honest chat with Andrew.  Timings of episode: 00:00-04:50: Introduction and background 04:50-: 07:35: Why tax? 07:35-15:46: Why did you want to specialise in reward tax and what is it? 15:47-20:45: Why did Andrew first turn down an offer from Cooper Parry and then why did he join as employee no.1 in Scotland for Cooper Parry? 20:46-27:00: How working for a firm with high growth mentality and high risk has been an enormous but fun learning curve.  27:01-31:58: Discussing the different environments of LLP, large mid-tier and PE-backed. 31:59-36:40: 'The Rebels of Accountancy’ - who would be a good fit? 36:41-38:12: Plans for Cooper Parry in Scotland over the next few years 38:13-45:10: What does his voluntary role with Patrick Thistle Football Club’s ‘The Jags Foundation' involve? 45:11-48:10: Personal and professional goals for the next 12 months ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Melanie Clark and Tom Faichnie: Differentiating yourself as a new brand and adding value that AI can’t

Melanie and Tom had been working together for years under different companies and then they decided to take their effective working relationship into their own hands and launch their own corporate finance business, Quantify Advisors. In their first year, Quantify advised on 14 completed deals with a cumulative deal value in excess of £150 million.  This episode discusses their evolving personal brand journey, the learning curve of being a business owner and how they create added value for their clients. Timings for episode 00:00-5:35: Introduction and how they met 5:36-7:56: The story so far of Quantify Advisors  7:57-9:11: The learning curve of being business owners and wearing lots of different hats 9:12-14:45: Differentiating as a new brand in a competitive market 14:46-21:29: Working to strengths and navigating personal branding 21:30-23:45: What are Tom and Melanie learning as leaders? 23:46-31:19: What AI can and can’t do to add value in corporate finance  31:20-34:29: Commentary on the corporate finance and private equity market in 2026 and deal flow for Quantify 34:30-36:06:Being consultative by building relationships with clients 36:07-40:15: Personal and professional goals for the next 12 months  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Iain Wright: Claritas Tax: From solopreneur to the UK’s largest independent tax consultancy

Iain Wright decided to launch his own tax consultancy rather than pursue the next career milestone in professional services as a Partner. He was questioned and faced doubters, but he backed himself and launched Claritas Tax in 2012 with a dream of growing it into a larger business. Regarded as the UK’s largest independent tax consultancy, it now has over 70 employees, which will increase after a recent acquisition.   This episode covers the journey so far, provides more information about the firm, its culture, and also discusses the importance of hiring and retaining talent for a growing firm.   TIMINGS OF EPISODE 00:00-03:31: Introduction and background 03:32- 06:10: Who are Claritas Tax? 06:11-11:06: Why did Iain set up Claritas rather than pursue Partnership for an already established firm? 11:07-17:49 The journey of Claritas Tax (the first 1-3 years) and why some of the early hires have been loyal till this day? 17:50-19:24: Executing the strategy of growing Claritas Tax in the early days 19:25-22:45: Iain’s approach to recruitment and how it has evolved 22:46-30:44: Building the culture at Claritas Tax and the process of hiring and retaining talent 30:45-32:47: What might surprise people about a boutique firm like Claritas compared to a large established firm?  32:48-END: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.