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Meeting the 2021 eprivateclient 50 Most Influential: Nimesh Shah of Blick Rothenberg

News Team, 23/07/2021

The eprivateclient 50 Most Influential is the definitive rankings of the key players in the UK and offshore private client practitioner sector.

To showcase the achievements of those listed this year and to get to know them a bit better, eprivateclient has begun publishing a series of Q&As with our 2021 50 Most Influentials.

This week we hear from Blick Rothenberg's CEO Nimesh Shah. Named as CEO of the London-based tax advisory firm in August last year having joined the firm in 2012, Nimesh’s background is in personal tax and he has over 15 years’ continuous experience in practice. He specialises in the interaction of personal and corporate tax matters, advising predominantly entrepreneurs from across a variety of industry sectors on all aspects of their personal and corporate tax affairs.

What have been your proudest personal/team achievements this year?  

I was appointed as CEO of Blick Rothenberg in August 2020 – as well as a highlight for 2020, it’s my career highlight to date!  I have been very fortunate to inherit a solid business, built around the strength of it’s people.  Despite the pandemic, my transition into the role was made easy by the support I was given by our people and senior team.  I am enjoying the challenge of my new role (albeit from a remote environment at the moment), and looking forward to a point where I can host our team in person which I haven’t been able to do since my appointment.

What advice would you give your younger self?  

Have greater confidence in your own ability and it’s fine to mistakes along the way, as long as you can learn from them to take you forward.

What do you find most rewarding about your role?  

My ambition is to leave a positive impact for our people and give them the same opportunities that have been given to me, so that their careers can develop beyond mine – that is my measure of success in my new role.  On the client side, I am fortunate to still act for a key number of clients and I continue to take heart from seeing the value of the advice I provide to my clients.

What challenges do you see your firm/clients facing in 2021?  

There have been regular noises in the press and speculation in the market that taxes will increase to pay for the cost of pandemic, which has created uncertainty, especially amongst our entrepreneurial clients.  With the backdrop of Brexit in addition, now is not the time for dramatic tax changes and businesses need a clear roadmap for recovery and future success.  The UK should be developing a simpler and attractive tax system to foster entrepreneurship and attract the best businesses to the UK.

What does being named a 50 Most Influential mean to you?  

It’s always great to be recognised, but it’s even more rewarding to be considered an influential voice in the private client market – I want to have a voice in the market for our clients to hopefully make a difference and it’s a fantastic to know that my profession recognises me for that.

What is the favourite part of your job?  

Supporting and developing our people, as well as making their working lives easier so that they have the platform to advise our clients in the most effective way.

What made you choose to focus on private client work?  

I have always worked in private client since joining the profession at the age of 18 and it feels more real working with individuals and families rather than corporates, and where you can directly see the difference you are making to your clients.  With my focus on entrepreneurs, I still get to work with a number of businesses but having direct contact to the key stakeholder is the exciting part.

What book/luxury item would you want with you on a desert island?  

My colleagues would say that I need to take something that allows me to reply to e-mails, but I would love to get away from them!  I would have to take an old iPod so that I can listen to my music without the disruption of any phone notifications.

If you were not in (and it is not) your current role, what would be your dream job?  

As a child, I wanted to be a train driver – may be after my career in private client, I could re-train.

What are your favourite hobbies/passions/interests outside of work?  

I am sadly very passionate about tax and spend some of my spare time providing my thought and commentating on policy matters.  Outside of tax, I have a passion for music (and can play the organ) and I will watch any type of sport on TV.

What one piece of advice has benefited you the most in your career?  

Take a risk and don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

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