Promotions strengthen partnership bonds

PITCHER PARTNERS NATIONAL 1 JULY 2022:

Eight new Partners have joined Pitcher Partners, adding their collective strength to the network.

National Chairman of the Pitcher Partners association John Brazzale congratulated the new partners and said these promotions recognise their continued commitment to delivering the best advice and opportunities for clients.

“Pitcher Partners prides itself on its culture that nurtures talent and creates opportunity for growth, because looking after our people ultimately provides better results for our clients, which are the businesses that are driving Australia’s economy,” John said.

“Growing our network and injecting senior talent into the partnership network keeps the ideas fresh and sharp, which shapes the way our clients are supported. We back our people to ensure they can deliver on our continuing mission to making business personal.”

The new partners are based in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth, with expertise in diverse areas including audit and assurance, tax advisory, business recovery and insolvency, and private business.

• Karen Levine – Partner, Pitcher Partners Brisbane, Private Business and Family Advisory
• Lindsay Bainbridge – Partner, Pitcher Partners Melbourne, Business Recovery and Insolvency
• Adam Blizzard – Partner, Pitcher Partners Melbourne, Business Advisory and Assurance
• Tim Bradd – Partner, Pitcher Partners Melbourne, Business Recovery and Insolvency
• Daniel Burt – Partner, Pitcher Partners Melbourne, Tax Advisory
• Marion Lim – Partner, Pitcher Partners Melbourne, Business Advisory and Assurance
• Irina Tan – Partner, Pitcher Partners Melbourne, Tax Advisory
• Michael Fay – Executive Director, Pitcher Partners Perth, Audit and Assurance

Karen Levine focuses on private enterprises and high net worth family owners, with 26 years’ experience behind her. She prides herself on being hands on with owners, CFO’s and family members to provide no-fuss financial and tax advice and practical solutions.

Karen said making business personal means: “Taking the time and enjoyment in understanding clients – not just their businesses, but them as people. It’s about being open and honest and responsive, without fuss and without ego – we are all human after all.”

Lindsay Bainbridge specialises in formal investigations in the Business Recovery and Insolvency division of Pitcher Partners, and has worked closely with government and law enforcement agencies in connection with multi-agency taskforces.

Lindsay finds the challenge of large complex investigations, and the psychology of those being investigated, fascinating: “To find that critical transaction, or piece of evidence that pulls an investigation together, requires a deep appreciation of the people involved. That appreciation about how people react in certain high-pressure situations has assisted me in all aspects of my work, including in advisory engagements acting for solvent clients.”

Adam Blizzard focused on audit and advisory early in his career before accepting an opportunity to assist clients with outsourced financial teams focusing largely on infrastructure. That team has since grown to 38 strong and he says: “It has been a pleasure growing our team and working alongside such fantastic clients whose social, environmental and ethical standards align with ours.”

Adam advises people just starting out to: “Talk to someone new, whenever you get the opportunity. Things will come up where you don’t know the answer, however there are many people out there who are willing to help, and to impart knowledge.”

Tim Bradd has extensive experience working on insolvency and business advisory matters, from complex investigations right through to executing difficult recovery actions. With over 10 years’ experience in insolvency and business advisory, he is often sought out to assist clients in assessing their alternatives and, where appropriate, to engage with creditors to negotiate appropriate repayment strategies.

Tim admits that insolvency is a tough gig: “the stakeholders we engage with are likely to have been financially impacted by the entities to which we are appointed, and situations can be emotionally charged. I make business personal by showing empathy to all stakeholders and ensuring they understand the insolvency process.”

Daniel Burt is a tax advisory expert, working with private and public companies, and high net worth individuals. He has advised on significant and complex M&A transactions (including IPOs), providing value-add, bespoke advice to his clients across a range of industries.

Joining Pitcher Partners from the Australian Tax Office, Daniel has embraced professional services: “It is important that we have a deep understanding of our clients’ needs, so that we can provide tailored and bespoke advice. This is what ‘making business personal’ means to me – working side-by-side with our clients, tailoring our delivery to provide personalised service and advice.”

Marion Lim has been with Pitcher Partners Melbourne for nearly 20 years, specialising in accounting and business advisory, working with business owners and management from a strategic perspective, as well as supporting clients’ existing finance teams to upskill, drive process improvement initiatives and implement best practice reporting functions.

Marion encourages people to: “Grasp every career opportunity that presents itself to ensure you don’t look back with regret on your working life, and in family life as in business, to surround yourself with a strong support network.”

Irina Tan is a state taxes specialist with a keen eye for detail and an ability to handle highly complex property and transaction structuring matters. A lawyer in a previous life, Irina has also worked in the Victorian State Revenue Office and can easily identify opportunities and risks in a clients’ state taxes position.

Irina appreciates that there are human beings behind businesses, corporate entities and client groups and she strives to be: “Part of the solution, not the problem. We can add so much more value by focusing time and energy on coming up with solutions and finding ways to make things work, compared to just criticising the status quo and lamenting about the problem.”

Michael Fay is experienced across all aspects of business advisory services and sits on the Audit and Assurance team, but the Not-For-Profit space is especially close to his heart. He is part of the leadership group for the Pitcher Partners Perth Not-for-Profit Focus Group.

Michael says it is not necessarily his technical knowledge that his clients value, but knowing that the Pitcher Partners team has their best interest at heart: “Making business personal means providing clients with the peace of mind that comes from high quality business advisory services, which allows the client to have the confidence to focus on achieving their organisation’s goals.”