I’ve always had a familiarity with accountancy, doing bits of bookkeeping work for my dad as a teenager, then working for him full time when I was 20. He has his own accountancy practice – as well as being an accountancy lecturer – and I have a copy of the poster of a Smirnoff ad with the slogan ‘Accountancy was my life until I discovered Smirnoff’ that he used to have by his office door.

Over the years I moved around a bit but I’ve learned something from every boss I’ve ever worked for. For the first two years of my career, the majority of my work was as a sub-contractor for other accountancy firms that were short-staffed as a result of the pandemic. As my client base grew, I reduced my sub-contracting work. It was similar to my dad having the lecturing job alongside his practice as he built it up; it can help to have another source of income to subsidise your practice because it’s a big leap from day one to earning enough to live on.

I always wanted to be the provincial firm that is known locally. So, I’m in general practice and I’ve always enjoyed the variety that brings. My practice has grown through local networking such as Business Network International, which builds the local network and community.

It’s easy to be undercut by someone who doesn’t follow the regulations

A current issue that has shaken the confidence of SMEs is the changes to national insurance and Employment Allowance. I don’t think that the impact it will have on SMEs and their plans for growth has been thought through. Across the country more broadly, people feel that life has become more expensive, while higher marginal rates of tax mean they get a lesser quality of life than they had before.

The bigger and longer term concern for the profession is the lack of protection for the title of accountant. Scandals in the press about unregulated accountants have undermined confidence in the profession and also the ability of qualified professionals to charge the fees that they should for the value that they are delivering. It’s easy to be undercut by someone who doesn’t follow the regulations.

MTD is being prioritised over a basic level of customer service that agents need

The government does not seem to be on our side in terms of the level of support that tax agents are getting. It is increasingly difficult for agents to work with HMRC. Making Tax Digital is being prioritised over a basic level of customer service that agents need, seemingly for political reasons. It undermines confidence even further.

I have a young family, which takes up most of my spare time. I’m also a runner, and a member of a running club of which I am the treasurer and do the accounts.

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