BLT AT THE TAX AWARDS – 23rd May 2013

One of the highlights of the Indirect Tax team’s social calendar is the annual Tax Awards, run by LexisNexis. So last Thursday evening saw BLT’s Indirect Tax team – Liz Watt, Guy Barrand and Emma Wade –  heading off to the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane for the 12^th LexisNexis Tax Awards, at which BLT have sponsored the best VAT Team award from the beginning.

It is a black tie affair, held in the hotels ballroom, with a champagne reception to start with. Emma, Guy and I were delighted to welcome a prestigious table of guests – Andrew Bailey from Ernst & Young , Liza Drew from  Nomura, Graham Gunning from PwC, Gary Harley from  KPMG, Anbreen Khan from Deloitte, Julie Park from The VAT Consultancy and Neil Reeve from Goldman Sachs. Everyone entered into the party spirit and enjoyed a splendid meal, followed by first class entertainment from the comedian Tim Vine.

Highlight of the evening is of course the awards presentation. Congratulations to all the nominees in our best VAT Team category :  KPMG’s legal VAT team, Deloitte and Centurion VAT Services. Emma volunteered to present the award on behalf of BLT and did a great job representing us on stage. The judging decision must have been tough, as these are three very high calibre entrants, but the eventual champion was Centurion VAT Specialists. A very worthy winner, Centurion, who are based in the South West of  England, provide a wide variety of services, uniquely designed and individually tailored to deliver VAT solutions for a range of organizations. The judges were particularly impressed with the business’s level of client retention, as many clients have been supported by the team since their formation in 1998. If you would like to find out more about Centurion, visit their website:  www.centurionvat.com . The award was accepted by one of Centurions founders, Alan Maher and  Louise Gray, a senior member of the Consultancy team.

Further entertainment on the night was provided by The Boy with Tape on his Face – which involved a high degree of audience participation. Our table was at the front of the room and therefore our guests were in the firing line to be ‘volunteered’ to participate, so all credit to Julie Park for being very game in re-enacting the pottery scene from the film Ghost!

After the formal part of the evening finished, there was plenty of opportunity to  network with friends and clients, which  was a great end to a successful evening – thanks to LexisNexis for organising another well run event.

Havelange gets Red Card as FIFA Score Governance Own-Goal

Last week FIFA was once again rocked by corruption claims, as it emerged that apparently its former President, Joao Havelange, had accepted bribes. The allegations surfaced after investigations into the collapse of FIFA’s former media and marketing partner ISL concluded. It transpired that Havelange had received tens of millions of dollars in commissioned payments before ISL collapsed into bankruptcy in 2001.

Read More