BLT – a Big Announcement. 2020 has seen so much change, but round here at BLT, none is greater than the news that Liz Watt, our Managing Director is retiring from BLT at the end of this month after 32 years of sterling service, both to the development of the BLT business and the Indirect Tax community as a whole! For those of you who don’t know Liz, she was the first hire that the BLT founders made way back in 1988, and for the bulk of her career, Liz focused on Indirect Tax recruitment, before in recent years using her unsurpassed knowledge and experience to set up BLT’s Executive Coaching division and establishing the hugely popular, successful and we’d go so far as to say, crucial Women in Indirect Tax Networking Groups. We’re not fully saying goodbye, as Liz will continue to run the Networking Groups with our full support under the BLT banner in the years to come, as well as continuing to develop her own Executive Coaching business.
She’ll never say it herself, but Liz has been a pioneer in all matters Indirect Tax. A source of the best strategic advice and support to Indirect Tax leaders on growth and retention over many years as well as a fabulous recruiter with a focus on finding the right home for the right individual, and whose empathy, drive and business experience has seen her make a great success of her ‘second’ BLT career as an Executive Coach.
It feels like the end of an era, but at the same time, the start of a new chapter here at BLT. Emma Wade and I will always be eternally grateful for Liz’s constant support and wisdom as we have developed our own careers over the last couple of decades, and as BLT moves forward into the future, the team can only hope to continue to emulate the values of deep sector knowledge, a truly personalised service and that willingness to go the extra mile that Liz helped instil in the business during her tenure. We shall miss Liz’s kindness, loyalty and sage advice, not just as colleagues, but also as friends. So on behalf of the current BLT team of myself, Emma Wade, Rebecca Blackwell, Tariq Siraj and Davey Peyton; former BLT colleagues, and of course current and former clients, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish Liz every success with continuing her Executive Coaching business under her own steam and to celebrating her BLT retirement properly over a few bottles of white wine when we can!
- by Guy Barrand