Business advisory firm Deloitte – named Accounting and Finance Employer of the Year in the 2016 North East Accountancy Awards – has promoted Julia Fox to director within its Newcastle-based tax team.
Julia, who has been with Deloitte for almost 20 years, leads a team providing cutting-edge tax expertise to businesses in need of restructuring across the North East, Yorkshire and Scotland.
She specialises in supporting companies, often in financial difficulty, with pragmatic and commercial tax advice on the options open to them to achieve their objectives.
Julia graduated from the University of Newcastle in 1995 with a degree in medicinal chemistry, but shortly after graduating changed career direction and secured an audit role in London with accountancy firm Arthur Andersen. She joined Deloitte two years later when she returned to the North East and married.
During her time at Deloitte Julia has worked in a number of specialist teams, including audit, entrepreneurial business taxation and tax dispute resolution. She has worked alongside the local restructuring team for a number of years.
“Working with a business that needs to change to achieve its objectives can be a high-pressure situation because timeframes are usually tight and there’s so much at stake, but it’s extremely satisfying when you help the business through a successful restructuring,” said Julia.
She added: “The tax provisions you need to get right with HMRC can seem onerous, but with the right planning and support it’s possible to guide the client through the process to get the best possible result. Even in circumstances of distress, where insolvency is a clear possibility, with the right contingency planning the adverse tax impacts can be minimised.”
Stephen Hall, office senior partner for Deloitte in the North East, said: “Julia’s understanding of the tax complexities in a restructuring situation is second-to-none, but she is also happy to roll her sleeves up for her clients and immerse herself in the situation. When your business is facing uncertainty, or a period of change, that’s what you need from a tax adviser.”