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Carl Bayley is the author of a series of plain English tax guides designed specifically for the layperson and the non-specialist (available from www.taxcafe.co.uk). His particular speciality is his ability to take the weird, complex, inexplicable world of taxation and set it out in the kind of clear, straightforward language taxpayers themselves can understand. Carl takes the same approach when speaking on taxation, a role he frequently undertakes with great enthusiasm, including his highly acclaimed annual ‘Budget Breakfast’ for the ICAEW. He has spoken on taxation on radio and television, including the BBC’s ‘It’s Your Money’ programme and BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show. Carl is a past Chairman of the Tax Faculty of the ICAEW and former member of the Institute’s governing Council and Board. Aside from his tax books, Carl is an avid creative writer. His first novel, Trinity of Souls, was published in 2024, with his second, Destiny of Souls, following in March 2025. When he isn’t working, he takes on the equally taxing challenges of hill walking and horse riding: his Munro tally is now 106 and, while he remains a novice rider, his progress is cantering along nicely. Carl lives in the Scottish Borders, where he enjoys spending time with his partner, Linda.

Makayla is Tax Associate Director at Wilson Partners Limited, working closely with clients on a wide range of Corporate and International tax areas, including M&A transactions, restructuring, transfer pricing, EOTs and group tax compliance.

Outside of her day-to-day role, Makayla is also Chair of the CIOT/ATT Future of Tax Professionals committee, working to support the next generation of tax advisors in the first ten years of their careers.

Claire is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and trained with Grant Thornton Ireland. She spent 5.5 years in corporate audit, before moving to the firm’s risk & compliance team, where she spent 6 years supporting the all-Ireland practice as their UK financial reporting subject matter expert. After a year in OmniPro’s Practice Support team, where she delivered webinars, developed technical content and provided post-monitoring support to firms, she is now with Grant Thornton, based in Northern Ireland, where she is Head of UK Financial Reporting and Accounting Technical, providing UK advice and support to local and international offices

Elaine has over 15 years Accountancy Practice experience which has provided her with a wealth of knowledge across all industries and sectors. Elaine is an AITI Chartered Tax Advisor, a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Diploma in Corporate Finance. In her previous roles, Elaine was a member of our Practice Support team, Elaine’s focus is on providing firm’s with assistance and training in the following areas; Anti-Money Laundering, Audit Testing and Walk Through Procedures, Audit Planning and Efficiency, OmniPro Audit Working Paper Demos, Preparing for Monitoring Visits and Post Monitoring Visit follow-ups. Elaine has experienced a number of ACA and ACCA monitoring reviews. This experience has provided Elaine with a great understanding and appreciation for the challenges facing Accountants in practice today.

Having worked for a number of years in practice, and with one of the profession’s regulatory and support institutes, Des co-founded OmniPro to develop tools, techniques, products and services that make accountancy more profitable and rewarding.

Des is passionate about bringing innovation to the accountancy profession and enabling accountants to achieve what they want from their careers and business. His core belief is that when empowered to achieve their best, accountants can deliver transformative results for clients.

He holds qualifications from the ACCA Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, CPA Institute of Certified Public Accountants and ACIS Association of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.