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Jon, a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW Fellow) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, is based in the UK.

Practice Management – Regional and National

Initially Managing Partner of Burnett Swayne, a UK Top 50 Chartered Accountant practice and member of the Kreston International global association. The firm operated from Southampton, one hour from of London, with 9 partners (4 equity) and 130 professional and support staff.

He led the sale of this firm to Numerica LLP and shortly after the sale was elected Numerica’s Managing Partner. Numerica was a UK national practice with 9 offices, 70 partners and 750 professional and support staff.

In addition to practice management, Jon is experienced across a wide range of service lines advising entrepreneurial clients, with corporate finance being his speciality. In the development of both Burnett Swayne and Numerica, he completed several acquisitions/disposals of accounting practices.

In 2005, Numerica was acquired by BDO. Rather than remain with the combined firm, Jon chose to accept the appointment as CEO of Kreston International.

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Tim is values driven leader with wide organisational, strategic and international experience from senior roles in accounting and legal global alliance sector, charities and the military.   He is an innovator, well experienced in change management, with a particular strength as a ‘people-person’, and as a facilitator and charismatic speaker.  His specialities are strategy,  leadership development, crisis management and reorganisation.

CEO of accounting and legal alliances

Tim served for 13 years as the CEO of international alliances , initially the multi-disciplinary association , MSI Global Alliance, and subsequently Nexia International while among the world’s Top 10 accountancy networks with aggregates revenues exceeding US$4bn.

Military Career – Colonel

Tim served 28 years in the Army, leaving as a full Colonel to pursue a commercial career.  His career included commanding a Task Force of 1,000 soldiers in Iraq, for which he was awarded an OBE for operational leadership.  He also commanded a large training establishment with a military and civilian staff of 2,500 and taught strategy and leadership.

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Jonathan is a dedicated leader in the professional services sector and has uniquely held leadership roles at the highest level in both accountancy and law firms and for the last 10 years has served in those sectors as either as an Executive Chairman, Non-Executive Director, Advisor or as a consultant/mentor.

In the accountancy sector, Jonathan was elected and re-elected for over 7 years as Managing Partner of Saffreys – the 9 office, Top 20 UK firm with fee revenues of c.$150m.

Within the legal sector, Jonathan again served for over 7 years, first as CEO for the 38-partner practice, Collyer Bristow and subsequently as CEO for St Philips Chambers, widely recognised as one of the most forward-looking and esteemed chambers in the UK with over 150 King’s Counsel and junior barristers.

Building on his experiences, one of his areas of focus is assisting clients with an assessment of the services being provided to them and the costs being incurred, co-ordinating the professionals servicing their needs and where necessary assisting clients with the procurement of new advisers.

Having this client centric insight, coupled with his previous experience, enables him to provide professionals with guidance both at a strategic and operational level on key areas of budgeting/pricing, team composition, service delivery and the management of client expectations, particularly in relation to fees.

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Kevin has led a distinguished lifetime career of leadership – first in the British Army and more recently with international accounting alliances. Leading large diverse organisations, he has demonstrated exceptional ability to address challenges, implement strategy, manage change, and operate effectively in multi-cultural environments.

Nexia International

Kevin served as CEO of Nexia International for 12 years continuously providing enhanced services to members, building service line business groups, and significantly expanding the international office team to deliver additional business development opportunities together with the sharing of knowledge, best practice, and expertise. His achievements cumulated with the International Accounting Bulletin award – 2021 Network of the Year.

Under this leadership, Nexia had :-

• Doubled aggregate global fee revenues to US$4,500m, spreading coverage to 125 countries and recruiting over 90 new member firms.
• Advanced in the global rankings from 12^th to 8^th
• Grown global professional and support staff resource numbers to 35,000
• Strengthened the international office team from 5 to 17 adding a COO, Regional Executive Directors, and specialist directors covering Quality, Marketing, IT, Training and Collaboration supported by the installation of an advanced CRM system
• Introduced a common global audit methodology ensuring transnational compliance with International Standards
• Raised the Nexia profile, introducing a new brand platform and expanding the adoption of branding across the network

DFK International

Before being head-hunted to join Nexia, Kevin’s initial experience of the international accounting alliances was with DFK International – ranked 7^th in the rankings of global associations with fee revenues of US$1.5m. It was during his 2 years with DFK that Kevin recognised that the leadership skills he had acquired in the army were easily transferable to the professional accounting world.

British Army

Kevin served in the Army for over 40 years in a wide range of roles around the world gaining a deep and hands-on understanding and experience of leadership and winning strategies achieving the rank of Colonel. The undoubted highlight of his military career being the command of a Parachute Artillery Regiment of 900 soldiers.

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After starting his career at HMRC, then in financial services and at two of the big 4, Tim has spent most of his career in Board and senior leadership roles at two mid-tier accounting firms. This has provided him with a unique perspective and substantial experience in advising clients and running professional services firms in the UK and overseas.

Strategy & Vision:

Tim has developed and implemented firm-wide strategies and been elected to various Boards roles at Mazars and haysmacintyre. He has leadership experience at a global level; bringing a fresh and diverse perspective to setting and delivering a vision within professional services.

Global growth:

Having held UK and global senior leadership positions, Tim has extensive experience of acquisitions, mergers and developing business across borders plus process and cultural integration through fostering collaboration and driving best in class working practices. He has led and delivered profitable organic and external growth as well as enhancing client quality and profitability.

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Regional Market Director of Top 3 accounting association

Chris was the EMEIA Regional Market Director for Allinial Global, the world’s second largest accounting association before joining Global Alliance Advisory Services in August 2021.

With regional responsibilities for member services, conferences, governance and recruitment, Chris has a comprehensive grasp of the strategic and operational challenges faced by associations at a time of rapid change in the profession.

Charged with implementing an innovative business model following the launch of Allinial Global as a new brand in 2016, Chris framed the value proposition, developed the governance structures, and attracted high-quality member firms across the region to deliver the vision and create a thriving professional community. During his period in office, the EMEIA region of Allinial Global was built out to comprise 60 member firms in 48 countries with combined revenues of c. US$1bn

As the primary point of contact in the EMEIA region, Chris worked closely with colleagues on the global leadership team to facilitate commerce and support the professional development needs of member firms.

International Development Officer

Chris had initially worked with e-commerce and marketing services companies in local, pan-European and global positions before moving into the professional services sector in 2009 where initially he served a UK Top 100 practice, subsequently accepting the appointment of International Development Officer for the newly launched TGS Global Network and playing an instrumental role in its early growth.

Chris is a graduate from the University of Oxford and holds an MA in Modern History.

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CEO and Chairman of a global multidisciplinary group

James is extremely well known within the professions having served as CEO and subsequently Chairman of MSI Global Alliance over a period of 18 years. MSI Global Alliance is an association of both legal and accounting firms and James’ experience of leading the development of this multi-disciplinary global association adds a further dimension to the service offering of Global Alliance Advisory Services.

He led that association through a period of significant growth building to 250 member firms in over 100 countries and his success was recognised when MSI was awarded  ‘Rising Star Association of the Year’ by the International Accounting Bulletin in 2017. The Award recognised the successful implementation of strategies across 4 key priorities – growth, marketing, member services and engagement

Marketing – national and international

Earlier in his career, James held senior marketing roles in two national UK accountancy practices and, internationally, developed the Australian marketing team for a global accounting network. Returning to the UK, he was appointed the founding Chairman of the Professional Services Marketing Group and was instrumental in the creation of Nexia International from the merger of two international networks.

Strategic consultancy to international alliances and firms

Before joining the Global Alliance Advisory Services team in March 2020, James provided strategic advice to several international alliances and was involved with the introduction of a leading US tax consultancy to the UK market

James is a law graduate from the University of Cambridge and holds an MBA.  His thesis focused on “Management Structures within Network Organisations’. He is a regular speaker at conferences and workshops.

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Recognised as a leading trusted adviser to the international accountancy sector

Jane has more than 25 years’ experience as a commercial litigator and advisor, and is widely regarded as the go-to person on network issues. Best known for her work in the accountancy sector, she has built up a loyal following of clients amongst the leading firms (including the Big 4) and a great many networks and associations – she is a trusted advisor to a number of them, looking after a wide spectrum of their legal needs. Over the years she has defended class actions involving global networks and / or their member firms and advised on a wide range of risk and compliance related issues as well has leading and co-ordinating multi-disciplinary teams of lawyers handling the setting up of networks, their re-organisation and handling the enforcement and management of IP and branding portfolios. She has lectured extensively on issues impacting network structure and risk, both to professional bodies and at the global and regional conferences of her key clients.  Her primary driver is to help her clients achieve their objectives with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of specialist and sector knowledge. In addition to her in-depth legal and sector-specific know-how, Jane is praised for delivering on other key aspects of outstanding client service, as can be seen from her directory testimonials : Jane “is extremely pragmatic; she applies common sense and has a superb command of the technical aspects of her subject”, with advice that is “second to none; she cuts through the complexity and delivers advice with superb clarity” (The Legal 500 UK 2020).

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Lead adviser for the development of networks and associations in China

Before joining Global Alliance Advisory Services in May 2020, Christopher headed the German Desk for Dezan Shira & Associates, the pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing market entry, legal, accounting, tax, HR, technology, and operational advisory to international investors through 28 offices in China.
Christopher and Jon Lisby have enjoyed working together now for over 15 years. This close and effective business relationship was particularly effective while Christopher served as the International Business Development Director for the Kreston International member firm in Qingdao, China.

Offering a unique business advantage.

Having worked within Chinese firms, and having been responsible for significant expansion of international business referral business, coupled with his understanding of the differing cultures and working practices across international borders and his multiple language capability – Christopher brings a unique business advantage to his work with the clients of Global Alliance Advisory Services

Christopher is based near Frankfurt, Germany and as well as German and English, is fluent in Mandarin.

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Jeremy Hyman has worked for 25 years in the professional services sector.

With a degree in law, and spells variously as IT manager, partner, software developer and management consultant, Jeremy has acquired a host of technical, practical and commercial skills. He and his Associates offer truly independent technical and operational advice working with international networks, associations and with firms in the US, Europe, Middle East and  20 of the Top 60 firms in the UK. The service offering is backed by a thorough understanding of professional firms, a sound grasp of technical disciplines, and a pragmatic and effective approach to provide IT leadership and guidance.

Jeremy Hyman Associates is the Global Alliance partner for the delivery of IT and operational consulting services to our clients.

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Des has over 20 years of experience leading business development and marketing at law and accountancy firms. Most recently, he headed up the Marketing and BD department at £100m t/o Saffery Champness, holding this role for nine years.

He was a member of the global Nexia accounting network Marketing and BD Committee for seven years, facilitating the growth of the network’s turnover from $2.9bn in 2014 to $4.5bn in 2020. During this time he was involved in the development of global proposal procedures.

His focus at The BD Consultancy is helping law and accountancy clients to be more successful; driving forward marketing and business development that is aligned with their business plan objectives. This includes BD training, coaching, project management and interim BD Director assignments.

Des is also Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Director of The Managing Partners’ Forum which supports the growth, productivity and prosperity of law and accountancy firms across the world through bringing together sector leaders to share ideas on strategic leadership and management excellence and acting as their independent voice to policymakers.

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Alun Morgan is a Chartered Accountant and specialises in audit compliance and regulatory training, with a keen eye for the practical application of standards. Alun started with the Big 4 and served as a Council Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. After qualifying, he moved on to work with one of the UK’s leading providers of training and support services for the accounting profession. Alun is the founder and CEO of the global accountancy network – Kudos International, which is a member of the Forum of Firms.

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