Scottish Charities Conference

Laura is the Senior Manager for Higher Risk Cases & Quality Assurance at OSCR with responsibility for the most serious and complex cases as well as OSCR’s work in relation to charity annual reports and accounts and annual returns. Laura trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers and worked in private practice until 2007 when she joined OSCR. She is an active member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland and is the joint-Chair of the UK Charities SORP Committee. .

Alan Eccles specialises in advising charities and individuals and is a partner with Bannatyne Kirkwood France & Co. Legal directory Chambers says that Alan advises on a range of issues and has particular expertise in charities work noting he is a “professional, dedicated and professional lawyer” and has “excellent experience and technical knowledge, and he is very generous with his time”. He teaches charities and trusts at Strathclyde University, is a charity trustee and is a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s charity law committee.

Phil qualified in his home town of Sheffield. He worked for Financial Training for a number of years and was their midlands regional director before joining Mercia in 2001. He lectures to the accounting profession and to those in industry and commerce on accounting, auditing, and related legal and regulatory topics as well as specialising in charity and property accounting together with international accounting standards.

In his spare time, he now watches cricket and rugby as his playing days are behind him.

Jon is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser with more than 25 years experience. During his career he spent 9 years with a ‘Big 4’ firm during which he was part of their Charities Network advising a range of national and international charities and not-for-profit organisations. He is now leads Bishop Fleming’s charity tax services working with their clients on tax issues such as non-primary purpose trading, setting up trading subsidiaries and Gift Aid. He has experience of working with a wide range of charitable sub-sectors including higher and further education, academy schools, independent schools, social housing, visitor attractions, hospices, sports and wellbeing organisations, the creative industries, charitable foundations and membership organisations.

Neil Owen is an independent consultant, speaker and occasional writer. He has specialised exclusively in VAT since 1984, when he joined HM Customs and Excise as a VAT officer. He entered professional practice in 1990, working for regional accountancy firms in the Thames Valley and Solent areas, before establishing his own VAT consultancy practice in 2007.

Neil has taken a close interest in VAT for academies for over ten years and continues to advise a number of clients in the sector, mainly MATs, on a regular basis

Peter qualified as a Chartered Accountant with an international accountancy firm before working in industry. He has over 20 years of training experience. He writes and presents technical updates for firms of accountants and qualified accountants of private and listed companies. Peter specialises in financial reporting, auditing and practice regulation. Peter also regularly carries out compliance reviews for firms of accountants which provides him with an invaluable insight into the practical financial reporting and auditing issues that they face.