Tax forum

Ahead of our Tax Forum, held in Dublin, we enjoyed dinner at 37 Dawson Street courtesy of our hosts, Tony Kenny and Tim O’Keeffe of Copsey Murray, where fun – and Guinness – was had by all.

The Forum itself began with a presentation from new members Guy and Inez from Belgium on their firm and their country’s tax regime, highlighting some of the opportunities and pitfalls of the Belgian system.

This was followed by a highly topical debate on the ethics of tax planning and whether any legitimate tax avoidance should ever be regarded as “morally repugnant”. We had some lively debate with the general consensus being that if the Government wants to stop something then it should change the law.

We then had an update from Kees and Sjoerd on tax planning opportunities in the Netherlands. Andrew Gelling also gave delegates a summary of how Ireland had coped with the economic downturn and the many tax changes this had led to. He also explained how Copsey Murray had set up two new joint ventures – in company secretarial and insolvency – as well as opening a new office to open up new markets.

HR Forum

Our HR Forum was hosted by Nicola Bell and Jackie Alexander from CBW HR and Gemma Lockwood from HB&O. It was an interesting day, highlighting the range of responsibilities that HR departments now have, not just in terms of recruitment and management of staff, but also in relation to developing and retaining the best people. We looked at strategies being used by CBW to ensure that their training and development plans are synchronised with their long-term business plan.

We also had a presentation from Stuart Chamberlain from Croners, who provided an employment law update. In his own inimitable style, Stuart gave us a whistle-stop tour of the legal changes that all employers should be aware of. Our second external presentation came from Nick Obradovic from Kaplan. As you know, MGI has signed an agreement with Kaplan, our preferred supplier of training, giving all firms a 15% discount on tuition rates. Nick attended the forum to introduce himself and explain to members about the opportunity on offer.

Both CBW HR and HB&O offer HR services to their clients and would be pleased to assist other member firms and their clients in this area should the need arise. Please contact them for further details.

Forthcoming seminars

Our second Managing Partners Forum of the year takes place on 1 November. The first event, held on 24 April, was a great success and we look forward to seeing as many managing partners as possible at what will be the last MGI UK&I forum of 2012, where we will be discussing the results of the inter-firm comparison 2012 among other things.