Jefferson Wells makes 2 senior tax hires in UK practice
Jefferson Wells, the global provider of finance, accounting, tax and technology risk-related professional services, has earmarked growth for its European tax practice with two significant senior appointments.
Bill Morrison joins Jefferson Wells as Engagement Manager and Head of Indirect Tax, while Alexandra Coates joins as Head of Transfer Pricing in the United Kingdom, in a move which signals continued growth for the Manpower-owned firm.
With 18 years’ VAT experience, in the UK and internationally, Bill joins from specialist consultancy Accordance, where he led the consulting team acting on behalf of multinational clients on cross-border VAT planning and compliance issues.
During a broad career, Bill has also spent time with HM Customs & Excise and the Big 4 in the UK, Poland, Croatia, India and Russia. Notably, he advised the Russian government on its draft VAT legislation working as a Special EU Advisor.
With extensive experience in both the economic and legal aspects of transfer pricing, Alexandra Coates is another heavyweight addition to Jefferson Wells’ senior staff. Alexandra has 16 years experience working across the private and public sector in Europe and the United States.
As Senior Attorney Advisor to the Office of Chief Counsel, US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Alexandra consulted on technical issues and litigation strategy. During this period, she was legal counsel to the IRS task force to harmonise approaches in the application of the comparable profits method.
The IRS awarded her special recognition for her expertise in Intellectual Property and her contributions to transfer pricing and U.S. Model Tax Treaty articles regarding royalties.
During her years with Deloitte & Touche Alexandra was a senior economist. In this role she pioneered the use of non-US financial data in the application of statistical methods and later went on to lead Big 4 transfer pricing practices in Switzerland and the United States.
Mike Nelson, European Vice President and Managing Director of Jefferson Wells in the UK, says:
“Indirect Tax and Transfer Pricing are major issues for most of our clients. I am delighted to have strengthened the leadership of these key and complementary practice areas with two high-caliber professionals with proven track records.
“The growth of the London office has been rapid and with Bill and Alexandra’s contribution we forecast expansion not just for our taxation practice, but also the wider business function.”
Both Bill and Alexandra will be based from Jefferson Wells’ London office on Paternoster Square.