I feel so fortunate to have had the honour of working with David for the past six years and to call him my mentor and my friend. It may not sound like a huge amount of time but the impact he has had on me both personally and professionally in that time is immeasurable. I can safely say I wouldn’t be where I am without his support and guidance. He would always try to stretch me and push me out of my comfort zone – whether it was a promotion or presenting at a conference (which he knew terrified me…) – his confidence in me made me believe in myself.

He cared so much about everyone in his team on a personal level and even when he moved into a much more senior position (and his team grew from 15 to 250!) he was still so generous with his time and found time in his busy schedule for us TMTers.

But even beyond what a great leader and teacher he was, what I’ll remember most is how much laughter and enjoyment he brought to the job. He’d always be the first to remind you not to take it too seriously, it’s just VAT! I’ll sincerely miss our regular catch ups – I have so many fond memories of sharing stories and just chatting about life with him.

I’ll always cherish our last conversation, with David excitedly telling me that he’d found an article in the Times which said that people born in 1980 were millennials (a running joke in our team) and giggling (in that David way) as I shared some juicy gossip I’d heard from indirect tax drinks.

David, thank you for everything, you’ll be so so missed.