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Tell us about your career history, and its evolution to your current role For the past 25 years, my career has focused on supporting innovationdriven companies across a range of sectors – including manufacturing and engineering – to achieve their goals while navigating the intricacies of taxation incentives and compliance.
I joined Crowe in 2007 and, in 2019, became Head of Innovation Taxes, advising companies on incentives such as R & D tax credits and the Patent Box regime. Most recently, I was appointed National Head of Manufacturing, a role that allows me to further champion the sector and the innovation that underpins its growth.
One of the exciting aspects of working with manufacturing and engineering businesses is the opportunity to spend time on factory floors. Understanding the pressures and challenges faced by manufacturing business owners and seeing first-hand how products are made is invaluable – not only for understanding the processes that drive a business, but also the opportunities where innovation can strengthen operations and enhance the products that ultimately reach the end of the production line.
How does Crowe work with manufacturing businesses? Crowe UK has a long-standing history of supporting manufacturers, a sector that continues to be a cornerstone of our client base. We provide audit, tax, advisory, and consulting services, using deep industry insight to help businesses manage supply chain, workforce, and technological challenges, meet regulatory requirements, and identify opportunities for growth.
Over 15 years ago, my predecessor, Johnathan Dudley, established dedicated support for manufacturers, creating our Manufacturing Business Group and Network.
Since then, we have continued to seek to be a voice for the sector, championing the key issues that manufacturing business owners face and bringing industry leaders together to connect and share insights.
Can you highlight some of the key findings from Crowe’ s latest manufacturing outlook report? UK manufacturing is showing resilience despite another challenging year marked by rising energy and employment costs, supply chain cyber risks and a deepening skills gap. Our latest Manufacturing Outlook report showed that 66 percent of businesses still expect to grow over the next 12 months, driven in part by increasing defense spending and a strong sense of sector-wide determination.
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