Ms Heggie joins the firm with more than 25 years of experience of providing specialist tax advice on international tax, trusts, capital gains and high net worth individuals.

She is Association of Tax Technicians (ATT)-qualified and will work closely with senior tax manager Senga Prior, who recently became ATT president, to deliver compliance services within the private client tax team at Johnston Carmichael.

Ms Heggie’s appointment is part of the firm’s ongoing investment in its private client practice, which promoted 8% of its people over the past year and has a headcount of 61. Further senior appointments are expected to be made to the advisory team later this year

The private client team grew significantly over the past 12 months with advisory fee income up by 28% in the most recent financial year ending 31 May 2024 compared with the previous year.

The team also recently triumphed as Best Private Client Tax Practice in the 2024 Tolley’s Taxation Awards, a prestigious national celebration of tax excellence.

Alex Docherty, partner and head of private client tax, said: “We’d like to welcome Margaret to the Johnston Carmichael family, and we look forward to sharing her expertise not only with clients but across the business with colleagues who will benefit from her knowledge and skillset.

“We are going through a strong period of growth which is creating fantastic job opportunities within our acclaimed, specialist team, which has deep expertise in rural and property matters, transactional taxes and family succession planning.

“We also believe in investing in our people and offer first-class in-house and external training and qualifications through all levels of the firm. More than half of our team are tax or accounts qualified and 16 are currently studying for professional exams.

“It is an incredibly exciting time to build a career in tax and accountancy. Automation is reducing the amount of time required for manual, administrative tasks freeing up our teams to do what they do best – advising clients and providing added value.

“We are proud to be an independent, progressive firm with a focus on quality, and I’d encourage anyone who shares our values to get in touch.”