Q&A with Adrian Parcell-Jones – Martyn Fiddler Aviation

Adrian Parcell-Jones, Tax Director, Martyn Fiddler Aviation

How long have you been at your current organization?

I have worked at Martyn Fiddler Aviation for over six years.

What are your responsibilities within your organization?

I am responsible for overseeing our tax advisory service – making sure that the tax advice we provide to our clients is up-to-date and relevant as well as overseeing the integrity of our in-house products and services.

Describe a typical day or week in your role.

With lockdown in place for much of last year in the UK my days do follow a routine.  I normally start with a run around my local park before settling down in my home office (my kitchen!) to catch up with overnight e-mails from the US and other countries, before catching up with the tax team and starting work on advice requested by our clients.  After that, the work is very varied. Lately I have been involved with developing and presenting webinars, but there are often client meetings by video, or work on tax changes and more recently the challenges of understanding the impact of Brexit and the UK’s departure from the EU.

What do you love most about your job?

I really enjoy working with my team – both my immediate colleagues in tax and the wider team.  Plus the challenge and diversity of questions we are asked regarding client aircraft is always stimulating.  We are in the business of problem solving and I often hear myself saying that we look to get the client and their aircraft from A to B, in a practical sense.  It is important to us that the advice we provide is not just theoretical but also practical – using our knowledge of tax together with our understanding of the aviation business to achieve a working solution for our clients.

Why did working in the Business Aviation industry interest you, and how did you get started?

I started my career in tax working for UK Customs as a Customs Officer.  After ten years I left and found a job as a consultant working for a tax advisory firm that happened to look after aircraft and yacht owning clients.  This was a lucky opportunity for me and over the last twenty years my experience and knowledge in this industry has grown and I now find myself working in this exciting industry – sitting on Parliamentary Committees on aviation, and being invited to join the NBAA Tax Committee.

Who or what has been your greatest professional influence?

There are many people I have learned from over the years and many who have been supportive in helping me along the way.  I cannot say that one single person or event impacted the most, I am just grateful for the support I have received in the past and hope that I now have the chance to be as supportive to others starting out or developing their careers.

As for a personal experience, over ten years ago I set up and ran my own business and this was a huge learning curve for me and my understanding of how business works.  I now have a great appreciation of our client businesses, big and small, and what they are looking to achieve.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Helpful, methodical, earnest.

What one item would you never travel without on a long haul flight?

A good set of noise cancelling headphones.

Finally, what is your hidden talent or hobby?

I speak fluent Spanish – something I studied at college in the UK and Chile, many years ago but still speak today.