An interview with – Hamish Morrison
HAMISH Morrison has significant experience in the M&A arena having worked in Ernst & Young’s Private Equity team for seven years. He joined Baker Tilly recently under the merger of the firm with Horwath Clark Whitehill (Yorkshire).
What aspects of your job/profession do you enjoy the most?
The opportunity to meet a wide variety of people and the challenges you face – no two days are ever the same. It is great to work alongside clients to help them realise their goals of a successful sale of their Company, especially where you have been involved in the development of their business from a relatively early stage.
What key challenges do you anticipate will affect your sector/profession over the next six months?
The tightening of the debt markets is not going to change in the next 6 months and so it is more important than ever that advisors work together to find innovative structures and solutions to help ensure quality transactions can still be completed. I firmly believe that in the current conditions transactions are far more likely to succeed where all parties receive good quality advice. The strength of the financial and advisor community in Yorkshire should mean we are better placed than other regions to face these changes
What key skills do you think every business leader should have?
All businesses are ultimately about people and so for me it is the ability of a leader to get the best out of the individuals working for them and the development of strong, sustainable relationships with their key suppliers and customers.
Why do you think Yorkshire is a good place to start up/operate a business?
It has all of the skills and resources required to be successful whilst offering the best of both worlds of in terms of a place to live – a vibrant city centre and great countryside on your doorstep. I also think the straight talking, down to earth approach of people in the region makes it an enjoyable place to do business.
If you could improve anything in the region what would it be?
Investment in the transport infrastructure. As with many areas of the UK there appears to be a desire to decrease car travel without making upfront investment in alternative modes of transport.
Do you think that red tape is hindering business growth in the UK?
Whether red tape is directly holding back companies is hard to tell but it is certainly a huge expense and one of the reasons why a number of entrepreneurs decide to sell up rather than continuing in business.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Be yourself and never let the highs or the lows get to you too much.
And the worst?
Believing an Amazonian Indian that it would not hurt if I put my finger in the mouth of the Piranha I had just caught. Needless to say it did!
What is the best deal/business achievement you’ve been involved with?
Each deal has its own highlights and it is very hard to pick one. One of the most interesting deals I have been involved in would be our own recent merger of Horwath Clark Whitehill (Yorkshire) LLP with Baker Tilly. It was very interesting to get the perspective of a principal in a deal rather than that of an advisor.
What was your first job and what did you spend your first wage packet on?
I worked in Comet after school and used the money to go on holiday. Travel is still something I really enjoy today.
If you could choose to start your career over again would you do anything different and if so what?
I am not someone who looks back – arguably I think you learn more from tough experiences than when things go well. I have been fortunate to work with a lot of very good people throughout my career and consequently I would not change anything.
