I started out in 1987 with Deloitte Haskins + Sells (DH+S), one of the then Big Eight accountancy firms, as an audit trainee. Almost three years of auditing was more than enough for me though. My shy younger self found it hard to continually badger clients for answers to questions I didn’t really understand myself.

So, after qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1990, I discussed my options with the staff partner and moved into what became a career in tax. After DH+S and Coopers & Lybrand merged (and partly because they merged) I moved on to KPMG in 1992. KPMG became my “home” for over 31 years, initially as a tax manager, for 23 years as a tax partner, and as office senior partner in Aberdeen from 2016. I left KPMG in the Spring of 2023.

So, ignoring paper rounds, working in a newsagents, working at Fine Fare and a summer in a local accounting firm, I’ve only actually had two employers!

I have taken the last year or so to recharge my batteries and reflect on where my energies are best deployed. I’m not sure I know yet. It’s been a good year….

The two thing that stood out were i) solving problems; and ii) developing the careers of colleagues.

Genuine problem solving is fun. As in life, in the world of business consulting and tax advice, everything is interlinked. It’s like a big Jenga puzzle. It often wasn’t a case of answering a binary question; but the real value usually came in seeing the bigger picture and getting the best inputs so as to give the best advice. The best clients understood and valued that process.

Colleagues were usually fun, but sometimes challenging, to work with. Sometimes they knew so much technical stuff, the difficulty was translating their specialist language into something “coherent”. With others, my role was to teach them, help them develop, and for them to then go on and be great managers and leaders, whether within KPMG or outside.

My favourites were often the youngsters. I love how they are nowhere near as deferential as we were back in the day. I’ll always defend the right of Gen Z to be as different as they dare. It’s then on the rest of us to nurture, retain and inspire them.

I recall starting O Grade Accounting at school in 1983 and thinking “this will do”. I mean it seemed easy, I seemed quite good at it, and I sensed it paid well. I did briefly consider Law as a University degree subject, but stuck with Accountancy and Economics.

Change is a constant. Nothing stays the same, and the accountancy profession is no different. Over the years, business models in all firms have adapted to cater for technological change and the different demands placed on employers by their staff. The rise of AI will further automate processes and we still have a way to go with people assessing work life balance and what a fulfilling career consists of in the post-Covid world.

So yes, roles will change. But business will always need problems solved. If we consider that the machines do the boring automated bits, it leaves all the more interesting work for the young(er) accountants of the future.

The pandemic brought a lot of technology to life. Some of it was good. Dropping needless travel brought huge advantages to P&L accounts and work/life balance equations. But at the same time it encouraged some people to be distant and it really affected those who were in their homes when they should have had better in-person learning on the job.

I personally disliked working from home and I was back in the office as soon as rules and regulations allowed. Having moved into our new Marischal Square offices during the pandemic, I was determined that they looked, felt and were being used as a proper working environment before I retired. It was a “legacy” thing. So it was a real joy seeing people returning and feeling that office buzz again. And it was fitting that STV chose “my offices” to film their “offices are reopening” segment in early 2022, when the last of the Covid restrictions were eventually removed.

On hybrid working I told STV: “It’s important that colleagues consider what’s right for them, what’s right for their colleagues and importantly what’s right for their clients”. Yes, I still remember my script, and it still feeds into occasional social media comments when I’m triggered by someone’s one-dimensional view of working from home.

Covid also incidentally created a perfect environment for April Fools Day pranks. Isolation seems to breed gullibility. It changed the way I viewed April 1st, and I took full advantage.

The best advice is usually that the grass often isn’t greener. And if an organisation has the right values and ethos, the best form of career change is best explored within the existing employer organisation. I always tried to facilitate that, so that people only left as a last resort. Or when they really wanted to do something completely different that we couldn’t offer.

Consulting widely and benefiting from the wisdom of those around you is usually sensible, albeit care needs to be taken to ensure the “wrong” people don’t find out. I did despair sometimes when people handed in their notice without much apparent thought, including one person who “just wanted a change”.

I remember back in the 1990s when a partner viewed a CV with suspicion because there were more than three previous employments. Nowadays this is less of an issue, albeit narrating the career journey is always important. Those contemplating moves should always give a thought to how they’ll explain their journey to a future employer. If it makes sense, maybe just go for it!

This one is simple. It’s all about making connections, building networks and keeping in contact with people. I generally did OK on that, but interestingly in “retirement” I’ve reconnected with loads of people who I really should never have lost contact with. The business and personal benefits of wide networks can’t be overstated, so my 18 year old self would start earlier and be more diligent than my 57 year old self.

I want to continue to help people and business, and to give back to the community. The great thing in retirement is the ability to be selective and to play to your strengths. I’m not sure that litter-picking for Our Union Street is a real strength of mine. But I’ve done it, and there’s video to prove it! I’m exploring several opportunities (executive and non-executive). Having savoured the luxury of not having to work, I don’t want to return to anything resembling full time work and I’m glad to have had the luxury of being able to take this path.

I may remain active on LinkedIn as an outlet for the various topics I’m interested in. Whether it be Bus Gates, energy transition, the occasional tax topic or something random, those Likes, Impressions and reply comments really do energise me. Thank you!

But really what I want to achieve more than anything is a happy, healthy and fulfilling active life for as long “after KPMG” as is possible.

In retirement, I describe myself as focusing partly on self-care. So I now have a personal trainer, I now actually go to the dentist, I get my eyes tested regularly and get my personal “annual MOT”. It’s often these things that busy people don’t do. I often didn’t! Everyone should, though.

I also enjoy travelling and there are lots of places I’ve yet to visit. Travel combined with live sport always works well. But a good old dog walk close to home with a good political podcast or some back episodes of The Archers can be very therapeutic too.

When still working, the important thing for me is to actually take holidays and not be online all the time. If your company can’t survive without you for a week without you reading and acting on all your emails, you’re either really important or you’re not doing it right. We owe our families and ourselves work-free zones.

I met Bill Clinton once. I don’t think he’d remember me. I often wonder what he’s doing now.