Stepping away from a protracted and profitable profession in Huge 4 and nationwide accountancy corporations is not any small determination, but that’s precisely what Greg McNally did when he based VITA.
At the moment, he leads one of many UK’s largest impartial VAT and oblique tax advisory companies, constructed on a easy however highly effective precept: understanding shoppers first, then delivering actual worth. With greater than 20 years of expertise, McNally has seen the career evolve dramatically, and got down to problem the established order with a consultancy that prioritises relationships, authenticity, and commercially centered recommendation in an more and more complicated tax panorama.
McNally is Managing Associate and founding father of VITA, a Glasgow-headquartered specialist agency of VAT and oblique tax advisors. With a mixed 85+ years of expertise throughout the staff, VITA is now the most important impartial VAT and oblique tax consultancy in Scotland and one of many largest within the UK.
Fairly than focusing purely on compliance, VITA specialises in high-value advisory work, serving to companies navigate complicated tax technique, transactions, and industrial decision-making. The agency works carefully with shoppers on the earliest attainable stage of initiatives, guaranteeing tax is taken into account proactively relatively than retrospectively.
That mentioned, the staff is equally adept at stepping in when challenges come up, whether or not that’s restricted choices late in a deal cycle or managing HMRC enquiries. Identified for its pragmatic, commercially minded method, VITA combines deep technical experience with a problem-solving mindset to ship readability, confidence, and worth.
What was the inspiration behind VITA?
I based VITA in 2019 after a 20-year profession with Huge 4 and a nationwide accountancy agency, the place I reached companion degree.
Over that point, I noticed the career change considerably. Accountancy companies have more and more change into commoditised, and in lots of instances, the depth of consumer relationships has diminished. Earlier in my profession, accountants had been typically trusted advisers, individuals who genuinely understood their shoppers’ companies and had been a part of their wider journey.
VITA was created in response to that shift. The aim was to construct a agency that prioritises understanding—understanding our shoppers’ motivations, challenges, and ambitions—after which including worth by means of perception, not simply course of. That ethos nonetheless underpins all the pieces we do in the present day.
Who do you admire?
The shoppers I’ve labored with over the previous 25 years.
Significantly those that’ve constructed one thing from nothin, who recognized a spot available in the market, challenged conference, and had the assumption to carry their imaginative and prescient to life. I’ve at all times discovered their origin tales fascinating. There’s one thing extremely highly effective about that mixture of resilience, creativity, and willpower.
Trying again, is there something you’d have executed in a different way?
No. Each mistake is a studying level, and I wouldn’t want any of them away.
Life is a strategy of becoming a member of the dots, you possibly can at all times look again and perceive how you bought to the place you’re. Trying ahead is a unique story. Plans not often unfold precisely as anticipated, so the true ability lies in being agile, adapting shortly, and responding to what’s in entrance of you.
What defines your manner of doing enterprise?
Conventional values in a contemporary, fast-paced surroundings.
At its core, enterprise is kind of easy: hearken to your shoppers, perceive what they really want, not what you wish to promote them—after which ship precisely what you promised, on time and on funds.
The problem lies in scoping work correctly and speaking clearly all through the method. Don’t overpromise. Don’t overcommit. Be trustworthy, be genuine, and do the best factor.
At VITA, we dwell by two mantras:
“Say what you do and do what you say” and “Do the best factor.”
What recommendation would you give to somebody beginning out?
You possibly can’t study expertise—it’s important to dwell by means of it.
Early in my profession, I centered closely on studying—constructing data, growing expertise, and rising my community. That section takes time, and there aren’t any shortcuts. However the rewards come later.
Put the work in early, keep curious, and be affected person. The return on that funding will observe.
