New tax department at BDO Guernsey

BDO Limited has got off to a flying start this year with the creation of a dedicated tax department to run alongside its well-established range of accountancy based services. The locally managed Guernsey firm has also announced the appointment of a specialist tax director, Mark Savage (pictured), to develop the department's work among new and existing clients.

Mr Savage has moved to the island with his Guernsey born wife Claire, bringing with him many years' experience in the field of international tax business. Employed by one of the ‘big four' accountancy firms, he spent more than 10 years developing his expertise in Eastern European countries, including Poland, Romania and Serbia, before heading back to the UK to become a tax director with Mazars in London.

Mr Savage says he jumped at the opportunity to launch a brand new tax operation in the jurisdiction where he and his wife were married, and also one where he could see plenty of scope for developing his specialist line of work into a whole new area. ‘It was a combination of these things,' he explained.

‘Of course the Guernsey element was very attractive to me through my wife's connections and my knowledge of the island, but equally it was the role, working within a highly regarded local company to set up an entire new department and with so much potential to bring in new business.'

BDO Limited managing director Richard Searle has welcomed the appointment of Mr Savage, saying it would help to make 2013 an extremely exciting year for the firm: ‘We are delighted to have Mark as our first tax director and we look forward to seeing him develop our new tax services, which will have the same hallmark of exceptional client service that we see throughout all our work here at BDO.'

Mr Savage is still in the process of developing his department but he says it will be built very much around the needs of its clients. ‘We are still working on what the exact shape of the department will be, but it will be driven very much by what the market wants from us,' he explained.

‘There are a lot of people who are interested in our new tax offering, some of them existing clients and others who are not so well known to our company. We are very excited about talking to them about the services we provide and also to find out what they would like to see from us.'

Midlands born Mr Savage was educated in Wolverhampton and qualified as a chartered accountant in Birmingham before moving to the Polish city of Warsaw, where he began to develop his specialist tax skills. He is a passionate supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club and is also looking forward to the start of the boating season.