InterviewInterview: Eric Williams,head of tax, MazarsBy Suzanne IsaacsEric Williams, Head of Tax, MazarCitywealthmag.com Citywealth magazine, July 2015 • 6
InterviewEric Williams is head of tax at Mazars. Headvises UHNW clients and theirentrepreneurial companies, both UK-basedand multi-jurisdictional, often working in tandemwith his colleagues in offices around theworld. Mazars is one of Europe’s largest accountingfirms with a strong international presence. Globally,they audit over 230 companies on sixteen differentstock exchanges. In the UK alone, the firm hasaround 130 partners and over 1,600 employeesworking in nineteen offices. Suzanne Isaacs caughtup with him at his Birmingham office.How would you describe the clients that you advise?I’d say they fall into two categories, although thesecategories often overlap. There are the entrepreneurs,mostly UHNW people who own corporates, andthose wealthy individuals who have significant noncorporatewealth. Many people have become wealthybecause they have run and perhaps sold successfulbusinesses, so my role is to advise them both on theirbusiness structures and their personal objectives. Ibelieve that a good advisor should consider theshareholders and their corporates, their family trusts,pension funds and any other entities that they mightown as a single integrated client. Advising in this wayleads to corporate advice given from a personalperspective and vice-versa, which is what, I think, theclient wants.What about your private clients?Our UHNW clients are often older. They may havesold out of their businesses, or inherited wealth, inwhich case we advise them more on the structure oftheir estates, their family trusts, inheritance tax andother personal areas, often not involving tax at all.Again, I try to advise as widely as possible, oftenfocussing on the preservation of family wealth downthe generations rather than on just one single issue.In the end that is what tax planning is about;delivering sensible commercial tax advice whichmeets clients’ personal objectives, and helpingfamilies to make sure that on the death of onegeneration, the next one suffers as little tax leakageas possible.My role is to explain to them why something works inthe way that it does and how our advice meets theclients’ goals. I also encourage my people to go andread the relevant pieces of tax legislation. When weare working together, I want them to challenge andstretch themselves so that they develop.What would be your single most important piece ofadvice to young practitioners?To be successful in this type of role, you need to buildstrong relationships with your clients and the peoplethat work with you.When you manage some down time, what do you do?I am a big opera fan so I go to see as much as I can.Last week my wife and I went to see Nevill HoltOpera’s new production of Bizet’s Carmen. Nextweek we are off to Glyndebourne to see some Mozartand after that we are going to see the controversialRoyal Opera House William Tell production directedby Italian Damiano Michieletto. This opera hasreceived a lot of adverse press coverage but, asalways, I will make my own judgment. This is anapproach that has served me well in advising myclients over the last thirty years.“A good advisor shouldconsider the shareholdersand their corporates, theirfamily trusts, pension fundsand any other entities thatthey might own as a singleintegrated client.”Eric Williams,Head of Tax, MazarsAre you a mentor to the rest of your team?I work with a lot of younger people in my team whocome with me to client meetings. They do the followupwork and then we discuss our course of action.Citywealthmag.com Citywealth magazine, July 2015 • 7