Who are we?
AUSUK Ltd supports our two beloved countries of Australia and the UK to realise the opportunity that has been given by the AUS-UK FTA.
Like the AUS-UK FTA, as an organisation we are just getting started, built on years of preparation. Commercially astute, globally minded, problem solvers, innovators and networkers who generate community prosperity and shareholder value for our commercial clients.
Principal
Paul Webster
Paul’s career spans both the private and public sectors having worked in financial services and management consulting in Australia before moving into international investment facilitation. In this time, Paul has facilitated and supported 1,000s of businesses on their international journey covering all sectors and sizes from scale-ups to multinational corporations.
Paul served the Foreign Office as the Director of Australia and NZ, Inward Investment in Sydney before relocating to London to serve the UK’s global client base. Most recently, Paul was the NSW Trade and Investment Commissioner in London for the UK & Europe to promote two way trade and investment with Sydney, Australia.
Prior to this role Paul was founder and CEO of International Investment Service before exiting to Gateley Plc. In his tenure at International Investment Service Paul designed and led the innovative Growth Works program for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and held numerous NED positions for high growth companies.
Paul is a former Director of the Institute for Economic Development and authored research for the City of London, NZTE, and Advanced Manufacturing Council.
Paul complemented his MBA and Chartered Accountancy in Australia and completed specific management studies in WHU Germany, Oxford UK and Harvard USA.
Associates
AUSUK.ORG is able to draw on the expertise from a pool of associate consultants across Australia and the UK to optimise the solution for your business. Industry experts and subject matter experts to right size the solution and sophistication for your needs. If you have a unique value add for Australian and UK business we welcome a conversation.
Chris Staerck
Chris Staerck is a Director of WEIGHT LIFTED. He is a specialist in strategy, planning and managing the delivery of outcomes for clients: he leads strategy and business consulting for WEIGHT LIFTED.
He is an insight-led strategic thinker, with strongly developed commercial acumen, implementation skills and a can-do attitude, and he has a passion for efficiently solving problems – especially through using and interpreting data to drive informed decision making.
An experienced consultant with Big-4 pedigree, he has worked in financial services, professional services, media, public sector and not-for-profit, with a focus on international trade since 2009.
Gareth Preece
Gareth Preece is a specialist in strategic workforce planning, skills and growth. By viewing organisational growth through a ‘people strategy’ lens, Gareth has built a reputation of effective delivery across skills, education and business growth engagements.
His passion for aligning progression of the individual with growth for business has enabled him to transform higher education provision, organisational development across the public and private sector and local skills brokerage and economic growth services.
Following almost ten years of providing expert advice and support to inward investors in the UK on behalf of the Department for International Trade, Gareth set up his own consultancy, helping small, but growing, companies address the issues they face in ‘accessing talent’ through the development of people strategies linked to high quality growth.
Gareth Preece is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, a Member of the Institute of Directors and a Member of the Institute for Export and International Trade (and Member of the Academic Board).
Peter Jelfs
Peter is Professor of Accounting at Brunel University London. His research focusses on direct taxation, both domestic and international, and bridges the gap between private and public sectors. Before entering academia he worked as a direct tax adviser at large accountancy and law firms including Mazars and Gateley, and was latterly five years as Head of Tax at the UK Department for Business and Trade, focussing on inward investment.
Peter can support our customers on assessing their fit for Patent Box, R&D Tax Relief, Property Tax Relief and key tax incentives.