ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Palmer-Violet is
Features Editor for the STEP Journal
Rewind to summer 2009. Deputy Chairman Michael Young is in an
airport lounge with a fellow senior TEP, who suggests he should
stand for Chairman. It was a position that he had never considered
until that moment. Suddenly realising how much he would relish the
role, Young started to see himself as a serious contender. It was
an idea he could not refuse.
‘If there is a cause you passionately believe in and you are
asked to do something for it, you should have an astoundingly good
reason not to do it,’ he says. ‘It’s part of the culture of giving.
There is too much emphasis, in many walks of life, on taking. STEP
presented the opportunity to make a contribution and, believing as
passionately as I do in STEP, I wasn’t about to say no.’
Young was elected and has never looked back – until now. His
three-year tenure has ended and Hélène Anne Lewis has the STEP
baton. Reflecting on the role that he will ‘miss enormously’, Young
counts many highlights, and remembers feeling an obvious
trepidation when he succeeded Rosemary Marr in December 2009.
The reality for any incoming Chair is not entirely knowing what
is involved until the job starts. However, Young admits he wasn’t
particularly fazed when he took over. He knew he could rely on the
support of the then Management and Finance Committee. And he felt
safe with Chief Executive David Harvey’s ‘encyclopaedic knowledge
of STEP’ on hand. The initial challenge was getting on top of all
Society activities and issues. ‘I come from the hands-on school,’
he says. ‘I don’t necessarily want to be involved with everything
but I want to know everything.’
Photo: Martyn Hicks
Big issues
Young was all too aware of the major issues STEP was facing back
then. The world was in the darkest days of the financial crisis,
which had direct implications for members. Would their businesses
survive? Would their clients survive? Despite the uncertainty, STEP
not only stayed afloat but saw growth over the next three years. ‘I
don’t claim that as my legacy because it is the legacy of an
enormous amount of effort from everyone involved in the running of
STEP,’ says Young. ‘I feel an enormous pride but it’s not a
personal pride.’
The Society and industry are still getting to grips with the
fallout and long-term damage on Greece and Spain, for example.
‘What are we going to be looking at in 18 months?’ he asks. ‘I
don’t have the faintest idea. But you can be quite certain the
financial and political climate will have changed. Again, what
bearing will that have on tax and fiscal security generally?’
One knock-on effect has been making headlines this year. As
governments struggle to make up deficits, tax is under the
microscope, with ‘avoidance’ taking on ‘evasion’ in the public
arena. ‘Clearly there are people who regard it as advantageous to
muddy the waters between those two,’ he says. ‘And inevitably the
press has picked up on this, very often in a remarkably
ill-informed way. There is now an enormous head of steam, not just
in the UK but in many international organisations, that something
needs to be done.’
“Even in disagreement, STEP is still very much a case
of working together for a common purpose”
The problem of defining ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ tax
avoidance, and what governments should be doing, continues. ‘One
role I think STEP can play and indeed has already started to play
is trying to inject a degree of level-headedness – to try to start
a debate – so we can endeavour to reach a common view on what is
“acceptable” and what we think should be legislated against,’ he
says. ‘Ultimately, it is the rule of law that must prevail, not
popular opinion. And how you find a common ground applicable
throughout the STEP world, I’m not sure, and it may be impossible.
We may have to deal with this issue on a jurisdictional basis, but
that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.’
Public policy is a domain that Young gravitated towards as
Chairman – ‘I elbowed my way in as I felt it was one area the
Chairman should be a part of and it’s something I enjoy.’ And he
has spoken out about tax abuse and the problems for both families
and practitioners in funding care-home fees. He would like to stay
actively involved even though he has stepped down from the
chairmanship.
‘One thing I don’t want is to find that this marks a watershed
of my involvement with STEP,’ he says. ‘I’ve never viewed my
chairmanship as being some sort of pinnacle, after which I will
simply retire gracefully to the back benches.’
Hélène Anne Lewis succeeds Michael
Young
BVI practitioner Hélène Anne Lewis TEP said she was ‘honoured’
to have been elected by her peers as STEP Chair. ‘As STEP extends
its reach to embrace membership from new and emerging markets, I
look forward to promoting the Society throughout the trust and
estates world,’ she says. ‘I am particularly excited to be serving
as Chair just as STEP is developing innovative educational
programmes.’
Michael Young offered his very best wishes, saying: ‘I would
like to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to
Hélène on her election as Chair of STEP. I know that Hélène will
bring energy and good judgment to the role, and I wish her every
success. But most of all I hope she will find her new role both
fulfilling and enjoyable. It is a unique opportunity to serve our
Society and one that I am sure she will regard as a highlight of
her career.’
Next issue: Hélène talks about what she will
bring to STEP’s Board of Directors
Contingency plan
It should be easy for Young to segue into post-Chair life. He
strategically chose not to start anything he couldn’t finish. ‘I
declared at the outset that I didn’t particularly want to adopt a
pet theme or project because I had a lingering concern,’ he says.
‘Chairmen, like all volunteers in STEP, are a bit transient: we
come, we serve, then we move onto our next role in STEP.’
While his predecessors could afford to launch and complete
initiatives when the Society was smaller, STEP’s great expansion in
membership and activities means it is no longer realistic.
‘Continuity, not of personnel but of policy and approach, is
becoming very important, so it is for an incoming Chair to take
what he or she inherits. It’s a stewardship role: you’re here to
see it safely through to the next chairmanship, allowing it to
develop naturally according to the demands of its membership,
rather than reflecting any particular individual Chairman’s
aspirations.’
‘Always be open to other people’s views’ is Young’s
recommendation to his successor. He hesitates about trying to sway
the new Chair’s approach, but says that his principal advice is
simple: listen. And, above all, enjoy.
Being open has helped Young’s own professional development.
Originally qualifying in accountancy, he joined Bath-based
solicitors Thrings in 1981 as a UK domestic practitioner. ‘My eyes
have been opened to an extremely interesting world out there,’ he
says. ‘That has had a bearing on my approach to practice and the
fact that I now do international work and I enjoy it enormously.’
As Chairman, Young was given the opportunity to meet a vast range
of practitioners. ‘I revelled in the discovery of what we have in
common as well as what distinguishes us,’ he says. ‘The people
experience has been the most enjoyable aspect for me.’
Balancing act
Young says being part of a close-knit team with a shared goal is
what he’ll miss the most about the past three years. ‘That’s one of
the wonderful things about STEP,’ he says. ‘It’s very collegiate.
It’s been an absolute pleasure to be Chairman and to know you’ve
got that much support behind you. You can have differences but you
don’t have to fall out with people. Even in disagreement it’s still
very much a case of working together for a common purpose.’
At every corner he has found support and guidance – from fellow
Board members, Council members and every level in STEP. Young
values highly David Harvey’s unique position of having served as
Chief Executive through numerous chairmanships, and equally sees
STEP President Geoffrey Shindler OBE as a great mentor.
‘He probably won’t thank me for saying this,’ he smiles, ‘but
there were occasions during my term when it sometimes helped to
think Geoffrey was looking over my shoulder!
‘And last, but by no means least,’ he continues, ‘I must express
my heartfelt thanks to the staff at Artillery House for all their
support and hard work. They are truly amazing.’
While he will miss his role as Chairman, one thing Young has
regained is time. He cites the support of his ‘astonishingly good
team at Thrings’ and his BlackBerry as blessings during his tenure,
and admits juggling competing demands was always a huge challenge.
His wife claims the biggest adverse consequence of his chairmanship
is the state of their garden. So will he be turning his attention
to that now? ‘I’m told so!’ he says.