The Professional Speaks

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 EPISODE00:00-03:31: Introduction and background03:32- 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 days19:25-22:45: Iain’s approach to recruitment and how it has evolved22:46-30:44: Building the culture at Claritas Tax and the process of hiring and retaining talent30:45-32:47: 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 

Jamie Grant is Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking for Scotland at Barclays Bank. He is also a Non-Executive Director (NED) for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. In this episode, we hear how Jamie took an opportunity to be part of growing Barclays in Scotland over 20 years ago, when it barely had a presence in comparison to having 7,000 employees now in Scotland. He discusses how working in professional services can develop you, how to gain clients in a competitive landscape and how he built successful teams. We also touch on Jamie’s first NED role, including the differences between working as an executive versus as a non-executive and advice for others who are seeking their first NED role. TIMINGS OF EPISODE00:00-02:58: Introduction and background02:59-06:55: From Ernst & Young’s mailroom to Trainee Accountant06:56-08:45: Transferring to South Africa with EY to management consulting08:46-10:22: How a career in Professional Services can develop you10:23-17:44: Moving from Bank of Scotland to grow the Barclays brand in Scotland17:45-22:50: How do you successfully gain clients in a competitive market22:51-24:17: Discussion on soft skills and creating a great culture with people with different strengths24:18-29:07: How Jamie built successful teams29:08-34:15: More on his role as Non-Executive Director for the Commonwealth Games for 2026 and advice for those seeking their first NED role34:16-37:12: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months

Catherine McManus is a Tax Partner and Head of Tax at UK Accounting firm, Wbg, who were backed by private equity firm N4 Partners in 2024. Topics discussed include advice for public speaking at events, her journey to being a female leader and why there needs to be equality at all levels, not just at senior levels. Catherine also discusses the transition from working for an independent company to being private equity owned.OUTLINE OF TIMINGS00:00-08:15: Introduction and career journey08:16-11:15: Insight into winning 40 under 40 ‘one to watch’ by the Tax Journal11:16-16:19: Catherine’s career experience past and present of public speaking and advice for others16:20-21:01: Discussion about a complex tax case that stands out from her career21:31-: Discussion around a recent report that the BIG4 are missing female Partner targets25:13-28:28: Managing a balance between work and life28:29-32:25: How has the transition been with Wbg becoming private equity owned32:26-33:32: Professional and personal goals

Jack Bonehill has a successful podcast dedicated to tax professionals and he also offers tax technical training but this is not his full time job. As well as this, Jack works as an Employment Tax Director for PKF Smith Cooper in their Birmingham office. In this episode, we find out more about how he manages to juggle having a side hustle whilst being a tax advising leader as well as some insight into him previously winning Tolley’s rising star award.Outline of Timings: 00:00-06:57: Introduction and background06:58-10:34: How did you get into employment tax?10:35-12:30: Jack’s approach towards winning work12:31-17:03: Why did Jack start a side hustle and specifically, The Tax Professionals Podcast?17:04-20:57: What Jack learned from trying to earn money from side hustles.20:58-25:29: Is the podcast what Jack hoped it to be? Discussing all the things to learn from doing a side hustle.25:30-28:12: What challenges are there of having a side hustle when working in professional services?28:13-31:05: Winning the Tolley’s rising star award. Why apply and what came from winning it?31:06-35:11: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months

Investment Manager, Duncan Thorburn, discusses his career journey from banking to corporate finance and most recently into private equity, working for Foresight Group which invests up to £15m in companies across all sectors, stages and transaction types.  We cover a lot in this discussion such as the importance of mutual transparency between a company and an investor, the importance of backing people, how Foresight support growing companies and the accessibility to capital in Scotland. TIMINGS OF EPISODE00:00-11:22: Introduction, background and career journey discussion11:23-14:01: Skills learned in corporate finance that helped when making the move into private equity14:02-15:26: What is different about working in private equity than corporate finance?15:27-21:44: How do you practically back senior leadership in a business as a private equity investor?21:45-27:52: What information do companies typically seek from Foresight when it comes to understanding the investor? How crucial is mutual transparency in this process?27:53-34:20: What different ways do Foresight support growing companies in the UK?34:21-39:05: What is the private equity market like in Scotland in regards to access to capital? Duncan provides two recently completed deals as examples.39:06-40:47: How do you see the market for Private Equity in 2025?40:48-42:35: What professional and personal goals do you have for the next 12 months?

Graham Marjoribanks is Head of Audit and Assurance and also Vice-Chair of Johnston Carmichael which is a large UK Accountancy firm. In this discussion, Graham talks about how luck and working hard led to his career progression to Audit Partner and how he wants to encourage others who might not have their career planned out.We also discuss how saying YES to opportunities can really develop you and your career, how to know what to say yes and no to, and how Audit is becoming a more specialised career. OUTLINE OF EPISODE:00:0-02:10: Introduction of episode02:10-10:02: Graham’s background, career journey and experience working across Accountancy firms of different size10:03-12:30 What can be learned by working overseas in professional services12:31-15:14: The journey to Partner and how luck and working hard contributed15:15-17:45: Saying YES to opportunities that can push you to learn and help develop your career17:46-23:20: The importance of building relationships with clients to add value and differentiate yourself from others and learning how to get better at this23:21-31:56: How to know what to say yes and no to and practical ways to help determine this.31:57-35:00: Choosing hobbies that require learning to help mental energy so that you can effectively switch off but that can also help provide clarity on issues35:01-39:00: Discussion on the demand placed on Auditors in regards to increased regulation and quality standards39:01-41:35: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months

Craig Morrison is Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Zonal, a successful technology supplier to UK pubs, restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality businesses. He talks about his career journey from Audit to finance and his goal to reach the C-suite. Other topics discussed include being the first in his family to go to University, his approach as an effective and supportive leader to help develop people and the fortunate experience of being exposed to board-level related work.   OUTLINE OF EPISODE: 00:00-02:04: Introduction 02:05-17:06: Introduction, background and career journey 17:07-18:30: Post-qualified experience. How is work impacted by not having exams to do anymore?18:31-20:26: Working in roles that align to your personality. 20:27-24:30: How balancing work and life has evolved and setting expectations of team members 24:31-29:13: Approach as a senior leader to developing people and the importance of trust 29:14-32:09: Being shaped as a senior leader and learning from working with C-suite leaders 32:10-33:43: Thinking about what C-suite path to take (CFO, COO, Executive)33:44-35:58: Knowing how to take the right path in your career 35:59-39:34: Mentoring young people as a volunteer for Career Ready39:35-41:23: Personal and professional goals

Tsvetelina and her husband worked full-time when they co-founded their business, Thankbox, an online card and cash collection service. What started as a small project, developed into a part-time business and they then committed to working on it full-time. Her career started in Audit, training as a CA and moving into finance progressing to Head of Financial Planning & Analysis at Blackcircles.com. It was her time here that developed her the most and where she learnt the importance of being customer-focused and listening to the data that would ultimately influence how she developed Thankbox.In this episode, we also discuss how showing appreciation and thankfulness positively impacts culture and mental health. Outline of episode 00:00-04:27: Introduction and background 04:28-8:53: Moving to Scotland and tapping into ‘the force’ of her personality to break through barriers and prove others wrong 08:54-12:00: learning soft skills when training in professional services and progressing in finance from Accountant to Head of FP&A 12:01-13:44: Career pathway goals shifting from CFO to CEO/Owner route 13:45-:17:47 Creating ‘magic moments’ for customers and making decisions based on data 17:48-25:10: How Thankbox was born and the ups and downs of how it evolved with plenty learned!25:11-27:33: The significant impact that showing appreciation has on culture 27:34-31:35: The growing demand for Thankbox from the angle of showing appreciation to colleagues 31:36-35:33: Fear can be a challenge for a business owner or someone trying to grow a business 35:34-:38:24 Working on her own well-being and mental health. Partnering campaign with Mental Health UK in October.38:25-40:12: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months 

Ex-big4 Director, Roger Mayor, joined an independent advisory business earlier this year as a Corporate Finance Partner focusing on lead advisory. His career to date has largely been working in corporate finance and in professional services which we discuss further. Topics discussed include the skill of being commercially curious, corporate finance as a career, some highlights of deal completions he has worked on, and the importance of being invested in your clients and the best outcome for them. Outline of episode00:00-03:59: Introduction and background04:00-07:43: Making the move from Audit to Corporate Finance (CF) and the misconceptions made about working in CF07:44-10:08: What is needed to originate work and succeed in corporate finance? 10:09-12:55: The skill of being commercially curious12:56-20:40: Career journey walkthrough. Making decisions to develop skills and career20:41-25:38: Originating business through a network as a result of building and developing relationships25:39-30:35: Some career highlights from working in deals and being emotionally invested in clients 30:36-32:31: What has been keeping Roger busy in his first 6 months at HNH and what will the next 6 months bring?32:32-36:00: Why are there more successful years of deal completions than others?36:01-40:24: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months