In November, we announced a restructure to facilitate our ambitious plans to grow by 15%pa over the next five years and double staff numbers by 2026. As well as creating a simpler model to support growth, the restructure also enables quicker staff progression, and in this latest round of promotions, the tax team – which celebrated 100% success in exams earlier this year – has promoted Marketa Pasova to Tax Senior Manager, Steve Ford and Joe Campbell-Orde to Tax Seniors, Callum Anderson to Tax Assistant Manager, and Dan Wilton and Aisha Perrott both become Tax Managers.

Aisha Perrott, who passed her final two CTA exams in 2021, said she was aiming for a promotion in January 2023, so was a little in shock when she found out it had happened a lot sooner.

“I didn’t think I’d be up for promotion this early,” she said, “so I am really chuffed, and absolutely ready and willing to take on everything my new role encompasses.”

Aisha says she is really pleased for her colleagues too, and loves working in such a positive environment: “I constantly feel inspired by my colleagues – everyone in the team is so supportive of each other and it’s wonderful to see everyone progressing and being recognised for their progress. The team is going from strength to strength, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it.”

Dan Wilton joined Old Mill straight from college on a trainee programme; he says Old Mill has been incredibly supportive at every stage, and he hopes to do the same for those trainees coming in.

“One of the things I love about Old Mill – and working in the tax team specifically – is the flexibility to explore different passions, and mould your career around this. There is no set route dictating what you need to do, and that enables us to develop professionally and personally. As I joined the firm as a trainee with no prior experience, I am looking forward to being on the other side of the coin, and helping develop our trainees in their roles and personal growth.”

Dan says he is not only proud to have been promoted himself, but also to see his colleagues succeed; he said: “Many of those who have been promoted are people I have worked with and developed alongside for a number of years, so to see the success of the team and the personal development of everyone has been brilliant.”

While the company-wide growth strategy is to double the size of the business within five years, the tax team has already increased from 20 to 30 in just eight months, while income from tax services alone is up 20%, meaning recruitment is going to have to accelerate significantly to support this fast-growing area of the business.

David Maslen, Director of Tax said: “I am so proud of the team and what they have achieved this year, and these promotions are testament to how much we value the fantastic work they have done.

David added: “But if we are to continue on this trajectory, we are going to need more people. There are a number of specific roles that need filling – we need VAT, Corporation Tax, and Private Client Tax specialists at all levels – but we also have an open-door recruitment policy, so we are keen to hear from anyone looking to take the next – or first – step in their tax career.

David says he is confident the tax team will reach its recruitment goals because of the way in which Old Mill encourages and supports people to choose the area of tax they are interested in, rather than being shoehorned into doing what the business needs.

David said: “There are generally just not enough people that specialise in tax, so in most businesses, the ones that do have to meet the immediate business need, and never get to explore the areas that they are most interested in.

“At Old Mill we do things differently – we actively recruit within tax, so we have a bigger team than our competitors, which enables us to support people to go into the area they are most passionate about.  As a result, we have been able to create a number of expert teams within the wider tax team – including specialists in Stamp Duty and Research and Development – which not only keeps staff happy and motivated, but enables us to offer a much more tailored service to our clients.”

If you want to find out more about a career at Old Mill visit https://careers.om.uk/