#3 Part 1: UK with Jack Clipsham and Mark Taylor

In our third episode, we visit Kreston's UK business arm with two brand new guests to share some personal business experiences, and examine the most and least surprising aspects of the Kreston Global report.  Part 2 coming out next week! 

Link to the full Kreston Global report can be found here: https://bit.ly/3RAdWhV

Written, hosted, edited & produced by Infinite Global: https://infiniteglobal.com/

Transcript

Kreston Pod Ep 3 Part 1

Hannah Robinson: [00:00:00] Hello. And welcome to Kreston Global's, the International Interpreneur Podcast.

I'm Hannah, your host, and today we're back with two new incredible guests to continue our discussions around the Interpreneurial mindset, and today we're staying right here at home for me anyway. In the currently cold, rainy uk. If you've just joined us as a new listener, I'd recommend listening to episode one, part one for some general [00:01:00] housekeeping on how this podcast works.

But in short, we'll be speaking with our new guests for two mini episodes, if you will. Our discussions will be split over a part one and part two, Part two being released next week to keep these sessions easily digestible for busy Listen. Anyway, let's get to it. I'm thrilled to have, uh, episode three Interpreneurs here today representing the UK arm of Kreston Global.

Would you like to both introduce yourselves, 

Jack Clipsham: Mark, after you ? 

Mark Taylor: Thank you, Jack. Hi, my name is Mark Taylor. I'm a tax director at Kreston Duncan and topless in the uk, and I'm also the chair of the Kreston Global 

Tax 

Jack Clipsham: Group. Hi, my name is Jack Lium. I head up the corporate finance team for Kreston Reeves, one of the other Kreston member firms in the uk, and I also chair the Kreston Global Corporate Finance Group in a similar role to Mark for the.

Hannah Robinson: And for a little bit of background, Kreston [00:02:00] Global is an international accountancy network that brings the best minds in business accountancy together. I think a great place to start would be to hear how you got into accountancy in the first place as a career, and what inspired you to become an accounting Interpreneur in your own right.

Jack Clipsham: I'll jump in on that mark, if you like. Um, so if how I got into accountancy, uh, it goes all the way back to my father, unfortunately. So my father was a banker and his father before him, and, uh, as all dads do, they suggested that I follow in their footsteps, which I couldn't think of anything worse to be honest.

Um, his then, he then guided me, shall we say, toward accountancy on the basis. Least if I got qualified in something, I had something to fall back on and I could then choose to do whatever it was that I wanted to do for, for real. Um, I did, I qualified with SEN Young and then jumped straight into investment banking, uh, through the corporate finance route.

Um, and then came back into the profession and have been with Kreston Reeves as a [00:03:00] partner and head of corporate finance here now for just over four. 

Mark Taylor: So I started out because, based on a parent as well. So my mom was the company accountant for a fishing gear company and they, my parents said to me, Well, you know, why don't you try and qualify to be an accountant?

So, started work doing my studying in my own time and, uh, sort of qualified as. Chartered certified accountant in a three partner firm locally and then moved to pwc and I was a corporate tax manager for them and qualified as a chartered tax advisor during my time with pwc. And then all the way back in 2004, I joined Duncan and Topless and.[00:04:00] 

Progress within that firm to my current role. 

Hannah Robinson: And as is customary on this podcast, we are going to ask a quick ice break question to get you warmed up and to give the listeners an idea about you as a person, if you don't mind humoring us. If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, past or present, who would it be and why?

Mark Taylor: So if I could have dinner with anyone in the world, alive or dead, it would be my father. So, My father died in 2000 and, or 1991, rather, sorry, when I was, uh, 19 years old. And, um, obviously had quite a bit of time with him growing up. Um, but it would be lovely to be able to have dinner with him and speak with him about his life and, uh, have a, have a chance to, uh, catch.

So that's my answer, which might sound a little bit funny, but it's, 

Jack Clipsham: it's true. I think that's a lovely, lovely thought. It's, [00:05:00] uh, I'd love to be able to do that with me, both my father and my mother if I could. But, uh, my choice for, for a dinner guest actually would be Douglas Barter. Um, and the reason for that is I have an insatiable interest in the stories behind the men who flew the aircraft in in World War ii, mainly because my uncle flew B 25.

Mitchell Bombers flew 51 operations with them, and also my grandfather worked with Beaverbrook during the war on the production of Spitfire. So that's where the interest comes from. But I also love talking to people who have fought through adversity to become leaders or champions in their own time.

Plus, from what I've read about Douglas Barda, uh, he enjoyed a party, so I'm sure he'd be an excellent dinner guest . 

Hannah Robinson: So onto the Kreston Global Entrepreneur is the reason why we're all together today in the first place. What was the most surprising finding showcased by the research for you, and why did it stand out to you in particular?

Mark Taylor: So looking at the intrapreneur mindset, white paper. [00:06:00] I think the thing that I found most surprising about the report was the differences between Interpreneurs in different geographical locations. The report showed quite clearly that those from China and India were the most advanced in expanding overseas.

Very high numbers of respondents in those regions saying that in Interpreneurship is a, is the norm, which does show a stark contrast to the view from other territories surveyed. And while the prime motivation for Interpreneurs is usually to access larger markets, the white paper does show. Several other factors come into play, For example, particularly in China where [00:07:00] accessing larger markets is not given such a strong and distinct prominence by Interpreneurs in that country.

Jack Clipsham: I think the, uh, the survey itself has brought out a, a number. Very interesting. Key, key points. The, the, the bits that surprise me about that report. I'm afraid I, I haven't got one particular one. I've probably got five, uh, that I'd just like to touch on and, and picking up on what Mark was saying, particularly about China and India.

And, and I speak from having lived and worked in Hong Kong and, and Asia Pacific for four years. Um, and the thing. I did notice about that is, is that it's China and India in particular that seem to have this Interpreneurial spirit, perhaps more than o other companies. But I would just lead with a question as to what extent is that being promoted because of government support and government.

Persuasion, Uh, and, and, and support is probably the best word for those companies to, to look, to go overseas. [00:08:00] Um, I think one of the questions that does come out as well is, is around sort of the, the funding, local support, local tax, business culture. These are all key issues that, that are. Obvious concerns properly from Mark and my point of view, what surprised me more was that people don't seem to understand that that certainly in in most countries that we work in, that support does exist.

Finding it is another, is another issue, and I think that's one of the big things to come out of this report. More has to be done by the local governments and, and the local organizations in, in different regions and different countries to make sure that those Interpreneurs know that that information is available.

It, it's not enough just for the governments in, in China and India to promote, um, uh, expansion overseas. Interpreneurs generally and in other countries need to know that the support is there and how do they find that, and that, that to me is key to come out. Three other quick ones. Uh, gender is, is a big [00:09:00] issue for me.

Um, and, and gender equality and diversity is, is a big thing for, for everyone at Kreston. Um, and I was surprised actually that that seems within this survey to be pretty equal, um, and particularly surprising in the. I think in my perception anyway, in the business world, the business environment, it still seems to be more male oriented than maybe female oriented.

So I was really pleased to see that this survey is showing that that diversity and equality is, is pretty much equal. Um, Two other quick things. One is, is personal net networks and, and the emphasis on personal networks is a reason to go abroad. And I question how those come around. So is it because those companies, those Interpreneurs are being encouraged by their local governments to, to perhaps go overseas and providing networks and network facilities?

Is it because those Interpreneurs perhaps have been. Any mba, for example, that have very, very strong networks of other [00:10:00] candidates that they then start working with on a, an international basis. I'm, I'm really interested to understand why personal networks is such a driver, um, for Interpreneurship. . Um, I suppose lastly, it, it seems to be saying that Interpreneurs err towards caution and deliberate decision making.

And, and speaking from my own experience, I think the people that, that I get exposed to who are, would be classified maybe as Interpreneurs, actually they, they similar, they have the similar sort of risk taking and drives that we see a lot in Interpreneurs. Um, that's from my own personal experience and, and other people may differ on that, but it again, that was interesting to see coming outta.

Mark Taylor: Uh, I think as well, Jack, just to add to that, you, you refer to personal networks and knowing what government support is available in, in various countries, which totally agree with, and that's pretty high on the agenda for Interpreneurs and, [00:11:00] but I also think that's somewhere where the Kreston Global Network can really help these individuals and their businesses.

We have those local personal networks that we can leverage and our local Kreston members on the ground, as it were in these countries, would have access to the information about, or what support is available, um, you know, what incentives can they claim, where are the best places to set up in business, et cetera.

So I do think that's an area. It's almost reassuring that the survey has come out with those as being key areas, because for me, that's, that's what we can add for Interpreneurs primarily. 

Jack Clipsham: A hundred percent. I'd agree with that entirely. And, and I think what it does demonstrate to us within Kreston Global, but, but other organizations as well, whether they're other, um, professional firms or they're government organizations, I, I think it does [00:12:00] show that we need to communicate better.

Um, what is actually available? What are the systems, What is the advice, what's the support that is actually available already? Yeah. Um, and it's only by getting that message out to the Interpreneurs that they, they then know where to go to. They, they know they need that help and they're looking for it, but they don't know where to find it necessarily.

Yeah. So I would agree that that's really key. 

Mark Taylor: I agree. I think that's a key takeaway from this white paper, Absolut. 

Hannah Robinson: And the inverse of the previous question. Now, what did you find least surprising, if anything? 

Jack Clipsham: So the, the least surprising, uh, items that came outta the white paper and the report for, for me personally, um, Probably surround the, the going international to expand the market.

Um, and also the supply chain, both the negatives and the positive side of things. Um, because of the role that we have and, and, uh, the role within En Kreston Global, we see a lot of cross-border work and, and, um, [00:13:00] between in, in, into companies and international work that's going on. So we see a lot of examples of clients that are already going into other parts of the world.

Um, their supply chain. So I have a, a client at the moment that, that actually has, they redistribute steel and alloy wheels very specific within the, the motor market within the UK and Europe, but they actually get them manufactured both in China and Malaysia. So the manufacturing goes on overseas. They have all the logistics and issues that they'll come onto with supply chain to bring them back into the uk and then they distribute them again into Europe.

So that works really well for them. Um, another example of an inbound, uh, client is, is a company that we recently floated on aqueous, uh, the regulated market here, just outside the London Sock Exchange. Um, it's a company called Majestic that is a specialist in. Specialist metals. Um, so they, they take, uh, mobile phones, Catholics are convert converters, uh, [00:14:00] printed circuit boards, and they go around the world.

Literally, they globally, they go to, to source that material. And they then take that material back to refineries in Japan where they then process it. So again, it, it, it's a very, um, uh, global market that they're dealing with. So it doesn't surprise me at all that that global markets come out and expanding markets come out as, as a main, uh, purpose for going international and the supply chain, again, positively, but also the negatives it's come, comes out as a negative in, in the report as.

Um, and that's inevitable, I think at the moment with, with everything that's going on globally in terms of the logistics and, and containers not being enough of them being in the wrong place in the world at the wrong time, uh, being at product supplies. So we, we've all heard of semiconductors and, and I that hit home, literally home with me only a week or so ago when a particular, um, sensor in, in my car.

Bust it went broke and we were told it was gonna be a month before they could find [00:15:00] the, the, the switch with the semiconductor because they just weren't available. Um, and that's as a personal and a personal point from a business point of view, this is huge. So those sort of things don't surprise me at all.

Um, the final one for me was around. Uh, younger people being more prepared to take risks and, and, and I think that's probably just a fact of life. Um, as, as we all get older. Speaking personally, again, I think we, we learn from some of the issues that we may have had in the past. We're a bit more defensive about making maybe mistakes or taking risks that that might come back to bite us.

So I think we inevitably get a little bit more cautious as we get older. Um, I think the younger people are, they, they, they don't have that caution in the same way. I think it's right that they deliberate and they look at things very seriously and at length, but actually they're probably more prepared to take that risk than we might do later in life.

Mark Taylor: So, yes, I, I do agree, Jack. And, you know, the least surprising things for me were, [00:16:00] you know, pretty much exactly as you've said, the, you know, the world has just become such a global place and doing business overseas, I think for the younger generation. It doesn't have the same sort of scare factor as it may have done years ago.

And you know, because of being online now, the wellbeing online, it's far easier to make those connections overseas. I think the age bracket, therefore for Interpreneurs is, is quite unsurprising. You know, those people in the sort of 30 to 40, 40 to 50 age. For the most likely people to be looking at doing business internationally.

I have a client here, for example, who is currently selling his company in the uk wants to move to Palm Beach in Florida, which is not a bad place to live. [00:17:00] Uh, he's built this business over the last 10 years or so, and he's selling for about 12 million pounds. Um, I was surprised to find out that he's actually still only 33 years old.

But it's just an example of, you know, what these young people are doing. Um, I have another, I have a client in Bali, for example. He lives in Bali, very close to the beach. He's an IT consultant. He has a good internet connection. He doesn't need to be anywhere in particular in the world. You know, living close to a beach in Bali is, uh, quite a nice place to live.

And, you know, the way the world has changed over the last 10 years, and probably more particularly over the last two or three years with C everything has moved. A lot of things have moved online. Doing business internationally is, you know, very [00:18:00] easy. People don't have the same problems with connecting with people overseas.

For me, that was the least surprising was how international people are. Now thinking, particularly that younger generation, 

Hannah Robinson: looking more to your own business territory, what do you think the UK does to support Interpreneurs? Is that reflected in the research, do you think? And do the UK specific findings align with your own personal experiences?

Mark Taylor: And in terms of our experience of clients in our country, so in the uk. Many of our clients are looking to expand overseas in all manner of different markets, and many of those entre Interpreneurs are in the younger age bracket surveyed. I think those people are likely to have a more global view of business, and as I've said, can operate anywhere in the world [00:19:00] with today's technology.

So the survey results. Definitely agree with our experience of our client base at the moment.

Jack Clipsham: I'd agree. The, um, in terms of the exposure, I think it's gonna change. You can talk to 10 different people and probably have slightly different perceptions on, just depending on which market that they are dealing with personally. But similar to Mark, we're seeing, um, an awful lot of, of, uh, actually inbound work as well.

Um, and they tend to be still, I would say the younger, mid end of the range, age wise. I think that may be partly because of, of just the sort of deals and transactions that we are looking at the moment. But we have got overseas companies from America looking to, uh, acquire UK companies. We have got people from Asia again looking to come in and acquire both, uh, UK and European.

And, and I'm actually working with our Kreston Turkey [00:20:00] member firm at the moment on a, a major chemical company that is similarly looking for acquisitions over here in the uk. So to develop their markets further. So we are seeing a. Cross border work. Um, the other thing which I'm, I'm exposed to at the moment is, is the d i t here in the UK run a, um, a global Interpreneurs program.

It's called Interpreneurs on Interpreneurs, but Interpreneurs. But it's, it's a very similar set where they are actively going into other countries and identifying and, and effectively vetting companies that are looking to grow and expand overseas. To attract them into the UK and to attract them here by showing them what support both financial and, and other support, advisory support they can get by coming here into the uk.

And, and we're seeing some fantastic opportunities there. There's, there's one, uh, where there's a company which has, uh, had an operation in Singapore. Um, and their product is to digitize hard, hard copies of legal documents to make [00:21:00] legal compliance regulated with compliance that much easier for companies.

And they're in the process of, of transferring their business out of Singapore, back into the uk, run back into the uk so that they can then take advantage of the support that's here to further develop that business. So that, that's a really good example of that. 

Mark Taylor: I agree. What you find when you work on international clients is not all countries are as developed as others in terms of those business links, the support that the government can provide.

So, you know, for example, I was in Dubai recently and met with the UK department for International Trade in Dubai. So the UK has people on the ground in these countries all around the world. Trying to drive inward investment into the uk and I think what we need to do is get some of these other countries a little bit more advanced in, [00:22:00] you know, the, the efforts that their governments are able to make to, to, to show what's, what the incentives are for maybe some of the countries from the, the larger or more developed economies to come and invest into their countries.

And I know that's an area. , a lot of countries obviously focus on, uh, to drive that inward investment. I 

Hannah Robinson: think that's a good place to close off today, but parts who will be released next Wednesday where we carry on the discussion with Jack and Mark covering topics like the Interpreneurial mindset, key report takeaways, and how the business landscape has evolved over the years since they've both been in business.

If you'd like to read the report that we've been discussing, then as always, you'll find a link in this podcast description. We really do think it's an invaluable resource for those looking to expand or move their business over. And join us all again next week to continue the conversation. See you soon.

You won't wanna 

Music: miss it.[00:23:00] [00:24:00]