The Professional Speaks

Hosted by Craig McKellar

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Jun 2026

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The Professional Speaks with Craig McKellar provides insights from senior leaders in professional services. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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30 recent

June 8, 202640 min

David Jolliffe: Boardroom lessons: Mistakes I made as a CFO so you don’t have to

David is the CFO for Novosound, which is an award-winning sensors company specialising in the design and manufacture of innovative ultrasound sensors. He recently had his first short book published, titled 'Boardroom lessons: Mistakes I made as a CFO so you don’t have to.’ which covers lessons learnt through his experience as a finance professional over 40 years. The link to it on Amazon is below. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boardroom-Lessons-Mistakes-Made-Dont-ebook/dp/B0GX7F58GT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2OULZNVPYJJ3Z&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FFLSfByPw7_ZFIqxUySpmg.ltC28vwKzglUGWvkmju7BO3hSnS1dHA3pyPTdseIzfc&dib_tag=se&keywords=Boardroom+lessons%3A+Mistakes+I+made+as+a+CFO+so+you+don%E2%80%99t+have+to%2C+david+joliffe&qid=1780661863&sprefix=boardroom+lessons+mistakes+i+made+as+a+cfo+so+you+don+t+have+to+david+joliffe%2Caps%2C97&sr=8-1 This was a really interesting and insightful discussion, which I’m sure you will enjoy. Outline of episode:00:00-04:55: What Novosound does and the nature of a early stage technology business04:55-06:19: Who is David?06:20-08:45: Summary of his career journey and discussion on working in different sectors as a finance professional08:46-10:20: Why did John write his recently published short book, titled, ‘Boardroom lessons: Mistakes I made as a CFO so you don’t have to.'10:21-19:39: Insights on the rare uncovering of fraud as an Accountant, including when he was CFO at Rangers Football Club.19:40-26:10: How important a Management teams' success is based on the sector the company is in. 26:11-30:21: Experiences of working for PE-backed and high growth businesses. 30:22-35:49: The impact from mentorship35:50-37:13: Keep learning. How he hopes his book will encourage others. 37:14-END: Personal and professional goals Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 25, 202629 min

Carolyn Bowie: The journey and insights of a legal Partner

Carolyn Bowie is a legal Partner specialising in immigration law for businesses and individuals at BTO, which is a full-service legal practice in Scotland.  Topics discussed include her different route to the legal world and partner, encouraging others to be confident and why imposter syndrome isn’t a bad thing.Outline of episode:00-05:17: Carolyn’s background and non-traditional route to a career in Law05:18-06:28: Why did she want to work in Law?06:29-07:42: What does Carolyn do as an immigration lawyer?07:43-09:21: Why did she move to BTO solicitors?09:22-11:37: How did Carolyn manage the juggle of young kids, working full time, going through a divorce and changing career at the same time?11:38-13:46: Discussion about having determination and confidence to achieve13:47-18:21: Imposter syndrome, support at BTO and leading people by encouraging them to believe in their ability18:22-24:47: Building a new service line from scratch 24:48-26:35: The importance of being authentic as a leader and leading by example 26:36-END: Personal and professional goals for the next 12 months  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 11, 202642 min

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 background05:03- 07:20: His role as regional Managing Partner for Scotland and Northern Ireland at RSM07:21-18:50: Career journey between professional services and industry18:51-21:31: What is the most important skill a tax advisor should have?21:32-31:15: Learning in times of crisis as a leader31:16-39:00: Managing targets set by a firm and setting personal targets to further help clients, current and new39:01-END: Personal and professional goals for the next 12 months Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 13, 202627 min

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 episode00:00-02:23: Introduction and background02:24-07:20: The journey from Partner to CEO07:21-10:08: 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 Carmichael21:54-23:42: Professional and personal goals for the next 12 months  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

March 24, 202647 min

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 background04:50-: 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 years38:13-45:10: 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 for more information.

March 2, 202640 min

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 episode00:00-5:35: Introduction and how they met5:36-7:56: The story so far of Quantify Advisors 7:57-9:11: The learning curve of being business owners and wearing lots of different hats9:12-14:45: Differentiating as a new brand in a competitive market14:46-21:29: Working to strengths and navigating personal branding21:30-23:45: 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 Quantify34:30-36:06:Being consultative by building relationships with clients36:07-40:15: Personal and professional goals for the next 12 months  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 23, 202543 min

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 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  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 2, 202539 min

Jamie Grant: Insights from growing Barclays Bank in Scotland over the past two decades

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 7, 202536 min

Catherine McManus: Transitioning from Independent to Private Equity backed firm and equality in professional services

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April 6, 202537 min

Jack Bonehill: How side hustles can make us a better professional services advisor

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.