Chris Oates

Background

About Chris Oates

I love my job. I have a genuine interest in my clients, and am hugely motivated by the opportunity to translate the complex world of tax for day-to-day business environments and situations. I am delighted to be a Tax Partner with Deloitte; I am based in Birmingham and work nationally. My position gives me the opportunity to continue with client work and contribute to insight and debate in the broader tax world. I have been fortunate to learn from excellent role models, and I see a big part of my remit now as being to share my knowledge with less experienced professionals. Following my early career in auditing, I moved to Andersen, specialising in Tax, before moving to Ernst & Young in Cambridge. I achieved Partner here and we built the firm into the city’s market leader. I then moved to head up Tax based in E&Y’s second biggest office, covering Birmingham and the South West, working with a fabulous, entrepreneurial team. We achieved a reputation for a high quality service and won substantial business; we also created a strong professional development ethos, which saw at least one person promoted to partner every year for five years. I have the attributes that are expected in my profession; I am highly numerate, analytical and have substantial capacity for complex information. I’m known for championing use of data in the tax world, enabling clients to manage risk and their tax cash flows. I am also naturally very curious and really want to understand the people I’m working with - strong relationships have featured throughout my career. I’m definitely a glass half full person, and believe that humour and laughter are important to offset some of the more intense challenges we all face in life. Outside the office, I’m a keen traveller, having visited places ranging from the Russian Arctic to Madagascar and the Galapagos. I’m a bookworm; have represented England in karate and I play the violin, both at home for relaxation and with a local orchestra.