How did you end up in tax?
Pure chance in conjunction with a rapid realisation that auditing was not for me. I decided I wanted to stay in Bristol after university so looked for a job which would fit my skills but enable that. I got as far as ‘Accountancy’ and ‘Arthur Andersen’ in the careers booklet.
Who in tax do you most admire?
I would probably look to my past and two people who taught me significant things. One was Philip Doyle at Arthur Andersen who taught me the importance of having a good feel for the underlying tax principles rather than getting too caught up in the detail. The other was Charles Hellier then of Linklaters who taught me to have the confidence to be reasonable.
Name a memorable moment in your career?
We had been negotiating for weeks and getting nowhere on agreeing...
