3min read

Sam – a focus on LGBTQIA+ inclusion

I’m Sam and I’m a Manager in our Private Client Tax team. I support individuals with their tax returns, tax planning and general tax-related problem solving. My clients tend to be high net worth individuals or people with complex tax arrangements.

Outside of work, my main hobby is gaming. I used to play semi-professionally in various leagues and even represented England; I still have a reasonably high ranking but play mostly for fun these days. I also enjoy getting involved in all sorts of social activities with my friends, such as playing sports and going to the theatre. 

I enjoy supporting people as part of my role. I have the chance to help clients who grow to trust you to give them a hand with all sorts of personal finance issues, not just tax matters. I enjoy supporting my more junior colleagues to develop and grow professionally and personally.

I identify as non-binary. I had wanted to be open about it for a while and was building up to it when I joined PKF. I noticed as soon as I’d joined that the firm prominently displayed its Values around the office – on screen savers, on the walls and even on our mugs. 

One day, early on in my time here, I picked up a mug that had one of the Values on it – we value authenticity – and decided to put this claim to the test by telling my line manager about my gender identity. She was incredibly supportive and together we agreed that I should tell the broader team. They were equally accepting when I came out to them and made me feel like I’d made the right decision by being authentic.

Sharing my story inside the firm was a big deal for me – but my colleagues were immediately supportive and made it a painless experience.  PKF is probably the place where I feel safest and can be my whole self without worrying about the reaction.

I was thrilled to help deliver a session about gender pronouns and LGBTQ+ terminology. I’m terrified of public speaking – and I was also slightly apprehensive about coming out in front of hundreds of people, despite my earlier positive experiences with my colleagues in my team – so this wasn’t something that I was particularly looking forward to doing! However, the feedback that I received from my colleagues from across the firm afterwards made it all worthwhile.