Dear
This marks my final message to you all for 2021. It has been quite a year but is one that I end looking positively towards the future. Arriving into UK from Africa, in the middle of yet another wave of this pandemic, my family and I were quarantined and then free only shortly before the UK started another lockdown. The children started their new schools remotely, and I started my time with BKRI with a remote handover from a desk in my house surrounded by boxes. It wasn’t until Toronto this year that I met André and Rui, who had interviewed me for the position of ED, face to face.
We have however achieved a great deal this year. The accountancy profession is busier than ever; challenges remain with staff recruitment and retention at the top of the list, along with the shifting sands of where and how to work. I am reminded daily how much business needs your skills and now, more than ever, solid relationships built over time are of key importance, as everyone tries to look to the future.
BKRI continues to consolidate the foundation on which it is built; personal contacts, personal standards, and a commitment to excellence. As BKRI looks to the future, our focus is on what we as an association offer, how it is delivered and ensuring its relevance to all BKRI members.
The arrival of Harris & Trotter LLP was a welcome boost for the EMEA region and the attitude and success they bring to our association is a true reflection of the BKRI ethos that “the more you put in, the more you get out”.
2021 has been a year of adaptation and compromise as the world comes to understand and adjust to living with COVID. The year has seen us able to start to travel a little more and start to meet face to face a little more, but there has still been so much uncertainty. I am hopeful however, that 2022 will be a year of moving forward. A year that will see us all together in Athens and I hope that as many of you who can, do join us. Toronto proved the value of getting together physically, all that was missing was more of us.
My targets for 2022 are a continuation of the targets with which I started 2021: meet and get to know our members and expand the EMEA membership – with an initial focus in Denmark, Finland, and Africa.
I wish you all a safe, and peaceful end to the year, and hope that 2022 brings happiness, success, and most of all health.
Best
Alistair
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