President and Council

PRESIDENT
Conlon,
Michael, QC, MA (Cantab), FTII, FIIT, FSALS, FRSA, FICPD, Barrister – Pump Court Tax Chambers. Michael is President of the Institute, National President of the VAT Practitioners Group and a member of the Tax Law Review Committee. He specialises in all aspects of indirect taxation, including investigations and litigation.
   
CHAIRMAN
Davies, Robert George, AIIT, ATII - BDA VAT Consultancy. Bob Davies is a Chartered Tax Adviser specialising in VAT & customs duty consultancy and provides specialised support services to firms of accountants, solicitors etc as well as his own clients (including multi nationals). His limited company also provides VAT representative, excise duty and consultancy services to overseas businesses. National chairman of the Institute of Indirect Taxation and a member of both the Technical and Education committees. Was responsible for developing the examination syllabus and has a continuing involvement to ensure that the syllabus meets the needs of the indirect tax adviser. Lectures frequently on VAT law and procedures for the Chartered Institute of Taxation, ICAEW and commercial organisations. Joint author of a training manual on customs duty and Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) for a major training provider for the CIOT examinations. Before becoming self-employed was for 8 years the senior VAT & customs duty consultant for one of the top ten accountancy firms. Prior to that spent 26 years with Customs & Excise during which dealt with all the major aspects of the departments work including, senior administration support services (e.g. advising on staff deployment, customs and excise duties reliefs etc, VAT). Trained as a lecturer at the Civil Service College, Sunningdale and was a trainer to new entrants on VAT, excise & customs duty law etc. Also Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CTA).
   
Ogden, Julian BA (Hons) AIIT – Joined HM Customs & Excise ("HMC&E") HQ in 1987 and began in Customs Directorate, dealing with policy issues on temporary imports, before moving on to the Channel Tunnel project team. He then went on a two year secondment to SITPRO, where he advised exporters on customs controls, the international payment system and Incoterms, before returning to HMC&E and VAT policy, dealing with issues relating to the supply of goods, business promotions, bad debt relief and TOGCs. He left HMC&E in 1996 to join Price Waterhouse where he was involved in advising on a wide range of VAT issues before joining United Biscuits (UB) in 1998. He is UB's Indirect Tax Controller with responsibility for VAT and Indirect Taxes across the group. In 2006, he became Vice-Chair of the Food and Drink Federations Trade & Customs Group and also took on the additional responsibility of Site Lead at UB's Business Service Centre based in Liverpool.
   
  Hayes, Ian
   
EDUCATION DIRECTOR and BRANCH DIRECTOR
Barnes, John B.Ed (Hons), AIIT – VAT Director, Baker Tilly. Professional Qualifications: 1. Director of the Institute of Indirect Taxation. Chairman of North-East Branch of the Institute. Member of the Institute’s Education Committee, and Member of the Institute’s National Council. Work Experience: John is VAT Director for Baker Tilly in their North East Region, and is based in Leeds. John has worked as a VAT consultant in the accountancy profession since leaving Customs and Excise in 1990. John is a specialist VAT Consultant for medical sector clients, and is the VAT advisor to the British Medical Association. Prior to 1990, John had worked for Customs and Excise, as an officer in Manchester VAT Office for 8 years, and a Senior Officer in Bradford VAT Office for 7 years, and had been a large trader control officer, and a trainer for VAT visiting staff.
   
ETHICAL DIRECTOR
Woolich
, Richard. Richard is a partner who leads the VAT and international real estate tax groups at solicitors DLA Piper UK. He is a chartered tax adviser and on the VAT Committee of the IMA.He qualified as a solicitor in 1989.
   
DIRECTOR
Challen, Phil LLB FIIT. Phil graduated with honours in Law from Bristol University in 1983 and started working in the personal tax field with what is now Sedgewick Noble Lowndes. After a spell working in Canada he joined HM Customs and Excise in 1987 working in Inland Customs. Coopers & Lybrand came calling in 1992, and Arthur Andersen in 1995. He eventually headed Andersen's UK customs practice, and later joined GE, where he is the corporate head of Customs compliance for the EMEA region.

TREASURER
Dauppe
, Victor, FCA, ATII, AIIT- MacIntyre Hudson

   
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
Fleming
, Ian, FIIT. Ian spent 26 years with Customs before joining the Armstrong Watson Group of Chartered Accountants in 1989. He has experience of the full range of customs and excise work, VAT, and the other indirect taxes. He is also Chairman of the North East Chapter of the VAT Practitioners Group.
   
SCOTTISH DIRECTOR
Hughes
, Alan BA AIIT – Worked in advertising before joining HM Customs & Excise in London in 1985.He left HMCE in 1987 to work in the City then later the West End.He specialised in VAT in international trade and the entertainment industry with accountancy firms Stoy Hayward, Rawlinson & Hunter, KPMG and EY.Since 1996 he has been employed with Scottish & Newcastle plc in Edinburgh. As Head of Indirect Tax his responsibilities include VAT, Excise and Customs duties in the UK, France, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.He represents Scottish & Newcastle plc on the UK trade association, the BBPA and is a member of the European Indirect Tax Group in Brussels.
   
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AND JVCC REPRESENTATIVE
Maas
, Robert, FCA, FTII, FIIT, TEP. Robert is Tax Partner of Blackstone Franks LLP, a small firm of chartered accountants. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1965 and has specialised in tax since qualifying. He splits his time roughly 50% direct taxes and 50% indirect. He is the author of a number of books on tax topics including Tolley’s Property Taxes, Tolley’s Anti-Avoidance Provisions, and Tolley’s Taxation of Employments and has written and lectured extensively on tax. Robert is a former Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Tax Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.
   
Connell, Alan BSc(Hons), AIIT. Alan is an Indirect Tax Director with Eversheds LLP who he joined in 1996. Alan started his VAT career in HM Customs & Excise (HMCE) in 1974 after a brief spell with Peat Marwick Mitchell, accountants (later KPMG). He left HMCE in 1989 while serving as a Surveyor in Oldham VAT Office, to join Deloitte Haskins & Sells accountants, later merging with Coopers & Lybrand. Alan left them after three years to become the in-house VAT Advisor at the National & Provincial Building Society (N&P), leaving there to join Eversheds after the N&P's merger with Abbey National. He specialises mainly in VAT but also advises on aggregates levy, landfill tax, insurance premium tax and climate change levy.
   

SECRETARY GENERAL
Davies
, Terry, LLB (Hons)