Past event summary

Speakers

• Pete Mahon

Pete Mahon is a Partner in BIG (Business Improvement Group) and has more than 15 years of experience in IT across a diverse range of SME and enterprise industries. His experience ranges from Telecommunications to Heavy Manufacturing, Chemical Production, Energy Services, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Education, Retail, Logistics, Industrial Equipment, NDT & Inspection, Insurance, Investments and Real Estate.

He has worked in both IT and Finance management roles in the UK for Virgin Media, and recently lead and operated a well-known and highly complex Digital Services organisation in the UAE.

Pete specialises in developing IT strategies through close partnership with business leaders, focusing on cyber risk, revenue growth, cost reduction and digital transformation.

• Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson FCCA is the Managing Partner of BIG (Business Improvement Group) and a former Global CFO (Head of Finance & MI Operations) at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Corporate Banking Division overseeing their Global operations with total assets under management of £103bn.

Bill is the Chief Strategy Officer for both Gulf Tax Accounting Group & Emirati Group and a former board member of the Irish Business Council in Dubai.

As a former Head of Internal Audit for RBS in three Corporate Divisions (Structured, Equity and Asset Finance) and two Functional Areas (Finance & Human Resources), Bill worked with the CEO's of each division to identify and resolve business issues. He established a Wealth Management practice in 2008 which won Irish Financial Advisory Firm of the Year in 2014 & 2015.

He works as a mentor & adviser for a number of High Potential Start-Ups (HPSU) & local businesses helping them to expand their business internationally. He has 25 years of experience in Finance, Strategy, Business Modelling, Investor Readiness, Audit, Corporate Governance, Compliance, Business Commercialisation, IT Systems and Corporate Restructuring.

• David Daly

David Daly, a Partner at Gulf Tax Accounting Group (GTAG) is a UK Qualified Accountant (ACMA) and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He has over 20 years of global experience in transformational environments across a broad range of industries, fourteen at an executive level and most recently nine based in the Middle East.

He is an ongoing contributor to Bloomberg, the author of over two dozen articles on VAT for the UAE published in The National and has previously written articles on global markets and business practice for other publications including Emirates Business 24/7.

He has practical experience in VAT, Finance, Project Management, Business Turnaround, Treasury, Audit, IT Systems & ERP, Business Process Reengineering and Contract Negotiations.

• Peter Whatley

Peter Whatley, a Partner at Gulf Tax Accounting Group (GTAG) is a former VAT-Inspector who helped roll out VAT in South Africa.

He has extensive Direct and Indirect Tax experience obtained at the South African Revenue Service where he led pre-VAT implementation education teams followed by a role in the post-implementation VAT and Corporate Tax Inspectorate. Peter Whatley CA(SA), BCom is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a postgraduate qualification in taxation.

He was a tax partner at Grant Thornton, providing pre and post inspection direct and indirect tax support. He has held senior finance leadership positions with several well-known Groups in the UAE, Qatar and South Africa. He has 30 years of hands-on experience in Auditing, Taxation, Finance, Corporate Restructuring, M&A, Budgeting, Technology Implementation, Operations, Marketing, Supply Chain and Contract Negotiations.