By Mike Sweeney, Principal.

I have recently returned from Vienna after attending the first face-to-face Russell Bedford Global Conference in 3 years.  It is always great to catchup with partners from across the globe and swap notes.  Whilst operating businesses in different countries has a variety of challenges, it’s clear that there are more similarities than differences and being involved in discussions across regions has been invaluable.

While in Vienna, I was privileged to be appointed to the Russell Bedford Network Global Board.  After just one meeting I can see the passion from the other members of the board to create a network which provides first class services whilst remaining locally involved in their communities.  To this end I was also delighted to be appointed the inaugural Chair of the Social Impact Committee.  The Committee is charged with developing programs in the areas of CSR, DEI and ESG.  We are aware that by mobilising our 350+ offices and 8500+ staff we can have real impact in these areas.  Lee Green has a long history of working with Not-For-Profit clients and social impact partners and we are keen to watch this area develop further.

The Russell Bedford network is constantly growing and through my role with the board I’ve had the opportunity to chat with prospective members as part of their application process.  This has given me chance to reflect on our time with the network.

When we joined the Russell Bedford International network 5 years ago we believed that the impact would be limited to our international clients, but we have been amazed by the range of clients who have benefited from this.

One of our sporting clients took up a contract in the US and we were able to get tax consulting assistance from the LA network office.  The son of a client has relocated to Austria and has to lodge returns both here and in Europe so we reached out to our network office there for help.  Our London office was able to assist with a share transfer issue we recently had.

These are just a few examples of the shrinking world and the ability of clients of all sizes to operate across borders.  Thankfully we get peace of mind from Russell Bedford’s quality assurance program and the confidence to refer clients to other offices and guarantee that they are going to receive first rate service.

You can read more about the Vienna conference here https://www.russellbedford.com/latest/news/russell-bedford-members-gather-in-vienna-for-the-39th-annual-global-conference/ and more about the Russell Bedford Social Impact Committee here https://www.russellbedford.com/latest/news/russell-bedford-launches-a-social-impact-committee/

Russell Bedford Global Board of Directors

Mike taking part in a panel discussion on Sustainability in Finance

Lights of Vienna

The gala dinner at the conclusion of the Vienna conference.