Interview with Craig Hughes from Menzies

What do you do for Menzies?

I am the service line head Partner for Private Client services within Menzies, specialising in providing personalised tax support for High Net Worth clients. As part of my varied role, my team and I focus on providing international tax services, UK and offshore trust planning, succession and IHT support and probate.

What do you love most about your role?

Trying to explain why we love what we do can be a difficult concept to understand, it’s more than a vocation, it’s more than tax advice, it’s relationships; it’s people; it’s life. It’s the reason we get out of bed in the morning. I have been fortunate enough to have some great experiences in my time at Menzies, and indeed privileged to work with successful, engaging, impressive and kind clients. I am proud that my clients feel they can be truly open with me and that we can discuss core matters which they seek our help to resolve. To quote one of my clients, “The advice and direction you have given me has been lifechanging. You support me, but more importantly you support my children in a way that I cannot. I see you more as a trusted friend rather than as a tax advisor”. Being in a position to develop such a relationship with my clients and being able to truly make a difference is incredibly rewarding and professionally satisfying.

What has been your greatest achievement?

Alongside the many clients supported by my team and I over the years, I would say that my greatest achievement is watching those within Menzies Private Client Services grow and flourish as advisors and positively impact the PCS industry. I felt fortunate to start my professional career in an environment where I was given early responsibility and trusted to work directly with a portfolio of clients. With this in mind, we truly encourage empowerment within Menzies such that our people thrive, are entrepreneurial and can tailor their careers around their personal interests and their clients. Our specialist Crypto tax services and our focused support for those working in social media and influencers are both examples of our empowered people bringing their wonderful ideas to life.

Why did you join PCD Club?

Private clients typically live complex lives and need support on many levels. Having close connections with advisors of all nature across the industry means that we can collaborate effectively and have the client at the heart of those well-connected relationships. I personally attended PCD events in the very early years when there was a group of 15 or so like-minded professionals who wanted to get to know each other so we could enhance the support we could offer to our clients and learn more from those in complementary professions.

It has been wonderful to see how David and the team have expanded the PCD from those early years to the international network we see today, enabling connections all over the globe and truly bringing our industry closer. I am pleased that I continue to work alongside many of those professionals that I met in the early days of PCD and shared many client cases over those years.

For my team, we have a number of professionals who excitedly and regularly attend the PCD Club events and continue to support the events to meet new contacts and strengthen existing professional relationships. PCD is unique (as is David’s dress sense!); professionally valuable and personally thoroughly good fun.

On a weekend, where are you most likely to be found?

I enjoy weekends with my wife and two children, usually playing taxi driver between various sports clubs. I am a keen runner, golfer and coach junior rugby.