Karen Shawcross

I started in 1988 as a trainee in the tax department of Barrowcliff Hamer & Co, one of the firms which merged in 2001 to form Anderson Barrowcliff, and qualified as a Chartered Tax Adviser in the early 1990’s and have seen many changes in both taxation and the ways of working over 30+ years.

My current role as a Senior Tax Manager in personal tax involves many areas of taxation and gives me the opportunity to work with a wide variety of people. I really enjoy the diversity of the work but my main area of interest is capital taxes.

My work is predominantly office based, so when I am not at work I like to be outside enjoying some fresh air. Most of my spare time is devoted to Aston my Bernese Mountain Dog. He is 58 kilos and comes with quite a lot of attitude, so he can be a little challenging at times! We go away as much as possible in our touring caravan, our favourite destinations are Keswick and Lincolnshire.

I also like to cook and bake, my signature bake is probably ‘triple chocolate brownies’ - these are always popular with my colleagues at Anderson Barrowcliff! I also try to find some time to knit and sew. My most recent sewing project was to create some bunting for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which I then attached to my caravan!