Neil’s career includes 15 years at Sage and nine at Wolters Kluwer, where he most recently served as Managing Director. But his journey started in an accountancy practice in Essex — an experience he still sees as central to how he works today.
“It’s probably my number one superpower,” he says. “Those early years helped me understand exactly what a 30–40 staff firm goes through on a daily basis. I can relate to what firms are dealing with. It goes an awfully long way when you’re talking to customers as a peer.”
“What I’ve been really impressed with is the speed we’re able to migrate new customers to TaxCalc, and how little downtime there is.”
That grounding still matters, even as the profession continues to evolve.
“The principles of the industry have stayed the same in that people stay with their accountant because they get proactive, good advice,” Neil says. “It’s the same good advice they got 25 years ago — they just consume it differently because of the technology available now.”
At the same time, the wider market has shifted significantly. Private equity investment, consolidation and rapid technological change are reshaping the landscape — and creating new pressures for firms, particularly those in the mid-market.
“When your firm reaches that stage, you’re asking: what sort of firm do we want to be? Do we specialise? Do we scale? Or do we sell?” Neil says.
These decisions are often happening alongside regulatory change, the rise of AI, and increasing client expectations — making it harder for firms to step back and reassess whether their current systems are still right for them.
“A lot of firms are using systems that solved problems from five years ago,” Neil says. “But they don’t always stop to ask if it’s still right.”
And this is where Neil sees one of the biggest barriers — not capability, but perception.
Having spent decades in the sector, Neil has seen first-hand how difficult software transitions can be. He says firms have often tried it once years ago — and some have been burnt by the experience.
For practices that felt switching didn’t go to plan previously, Neil says: “It’s understandable accountants are reluctant to consider switching again.”
He understands the mindset of many accountants who are anxious about the impact of moving to a different platform.
“Partners worry, thinking ‘this is going to be six months’ worth of non-chargeable time, we've got to convert the data and there's going to be an awful lot of work’,” Neil says. “But the reality is very different when firms do switch to TaxCalc, with far less disruption than expected.”
Neil has no doubts about one of the main things that has stood out since starting his role:
“What I’ve been really impressed with is the speed we’re able to migrate new customers to TaxCalc, and how little downtime there is.”
That experience is reflected in feedback from firms that have already made the move, many of whom describe the transition as far smoother than anticipated.
Neil points to customers who have gone on record to talk about the ease of the switch, including:
One of Neil’s early priorities is also to challenge outdated assumptions about who TaxCalc is for.
“There is a perception for some people in the industry that TaxCalc is only for small firms, but that is not the case,” he says. “In our customer base there are many firms with 30, 40, 50, 60, even 200 staff and more.”
Many of these firms are using TaxCalc to support growth, scale operations and modernise the way they work — including multi‑office practices and fast‑growing businesses.
Among them are Nuvo Accountancy, a 250‑staff firm with 14 offices around the country (watch their video story), and Gorilla Accounting, a 55‑staff firm that grew from a few hundred clients to 5,000 after switching software (watch their story).
Looking ahead, Neil is particularly interested in how technology will shape the next phase of the profession — and the role TaxCalc can play in that shift.
“Going first into the cloud with practice management and then following with compliance, as TaxCalc has, is the right way to go,” he says. “It’s not necessarily the route followed by our competitors.”
For Neil, the focus is simple: helping firms navigate change with confidence, while staying grounded in what has always mattered — helping them deliver great outcomes for their clients.
TaxCalc supports more than 12,000 accountancy firms and over 60,000 individual and business customers across the UK, offering software for tax returns, accounts production, practice management, Making Tax Digital compliance, anti-money laundering and company secretarial work.
The company’s software is used to file more than a quarter of all UK tax returns, while its practice management platform, Engager, continues to see rapid growth across the sector.