The Aberdeen office of top 10 accountancy firm Azets has appointed Michael Norrie as an Associate Director in Corporate Tax, expanding its overall tax team to 14 staff.
The firm intends to recruit further tax specialists over the coming year in response to continued growth in demand for tax advice from businesses and private clients across the North East.
Michael, a Chartered Accountant qualified with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), has spent his career with firms in the North East and advises companies across a broad range of sectors, including technology, construction and property, energy, the public sector and charities. His work spans corporate tax compliance and specialist advisory projects, including transaction support, group reorganisations and research and development (R&D) tax relief claims.
Michael said: “Azets has built a substantial tax practice in Aberdeen with real breadth across corporate tax, international tax, employment tax, VAT and private client work, and it is clear the firm intends to keep investing in it. That combination of scale and ambition, alongside a skilled team and a client base spanning owner-managed businesses through to multinationals, is what attracted me to the role.”
Michael’s appointment continues the expansion of the Aberdeen tax practice under Frazer Nicol, who joined as Head of Tax five years ago and has since built a full-service tax offering locally, covering corporate tax, international tax, employment tax and global mobility, VAT and private client work.
Frazer Nicol, Tax Partner, left, with Michael Norrie, newly appointed Associate Director in Corporate Tax, at Azets’ Aberdeen office.
Frazer said: “When I joined, the objective was to cover the key tax areas locally, so that clients have specialists they can sit down with in Aberdeen, supported by access to the wider expertise Azets has across the UK. The team has grown consistently since then and Michael's appointment reflects our continued investment in senior expertise. He is a well-regarded adviser with a strong technical reputation and an established presence in the local market, and he bolsters our capacity across both compliance and advisory work at a point when demand is running well ahead of previous years. Michael and I have worked together before and it is good to be working with him again.”
A significant proportion of that demand comes from businesses trading internationally.
“Companies in this region have always looked beyond the UK, and the energy transition is opening up new markets for them,” Frazer said. “What has changed is the complexity attached to operating across borders. Permanent establishment risk, transfer pricing, withholding taxes and the interaction of double tax treaties can each carry material cost if they are not addressed early, and the compliance obligations that follow are considerable. Alongside that, businesses moving people between jurisdictions face payroll, social security and residence issues that need to be managed properly from the outset.”
The Aberdeen tax team has considerable international experience and supports clients with cross-border structuring, compliance and treaty matters. The office also has dedicated global mobility expertise through Karen Groat, a Director in the tax team, who advises employers on the tax, social security and payroll consequences of an internationally mobile workforce.
Michael’s appointment follows a series of promotions in the Aberdeen tax team. Graeme Cran and Anna Scott were promoted to Director and Assistant Manager respectively within the Private Client team, while Chelsea Robertson was promoted to Associate Director in Corporate & International Tax and Jenna McDonald to Associate Director in both Corporate Tax and R&D.
Frazer said: “A career in tax can be very rewarding, and no more so than now, with tax professionals advising businesses and private clients in a fast-moving and increasingly complex environment. We will be recruiting further specialists over the coming year so that we can continue to provide our growing client base with the full range of tax services from our Aberdeen office.”