u/Mother-Atmosphere390

I’m looking to relocate to Edinburgh from London and am having abit of decision paralysis as how best to do this.

For some background, I started a big4 grad scheme in tax advisory out of university. I enjoyed the team, I could do the work well and was a nice work life balance.

I decided to move within my firm to a more transactional focused role out of tax. I was hoping the role will be more mathsy.

I’ve been in the role about a year now and am not really liking it. Although the modelling work is interesting, it’s very audit heavy and doesn’t have the client facing and strategic parts that tax advisory did. Although I got a 20% pay rise I wouldn’t do the work long term.

On the move to Edinburgh, my old tax advisory team has a base up there and would take me back but my new team doesn’t. So my options are either transfer back to my old team or find a new role in Edinburgh.

The only nagging thought is that tax is quite a pigeonholing job. So if I moved up there and get more senior I’d effectively be stuck. Whereas if I took a general finance job like FP&A I’d potentially have more career options available even if I don’t like the initial job. This is obviously hypothetical as I have no idea if I’d even like FP&A for example.

So I’m really stuck and would greatly appreciate any advice!

I’m looking to move to Edinburgh from London this or next year but slightly worried about its impact on my FI.

I’m 26M, work at a big 4 firm, used to do tax advisory work and pivoted into a transactions role within the same firm.

I earn around £60k plus bonus at the moment in London.

In my move to Edinburgh I’ll either be looking to move back to my old tax advisory team (new team doesn’t have a base there) or will be looking at a new role all together.

If I were to rejoin my old team I’d probably drop my salary down to £40k - a double whammy of regional pay and the fact that tax pays less than transactions. If I was promoted in that team this could rise to £60k (but would’ve been £80k or so in London). Speaking to recruiters (as I’m unsure if I should rejoin my old team) the trend from various calls I’ve had as been that £60k as an asking salary is too much.

So I’m initially worried about the first salary drop plus any further promotions will be 20% lower compared to if I stayed in London.

The move is primarily for my quality of life as I wouldn’t buy or raise children in London.

I’m currently in a good financial position at the moment of having a NW of c.£120k (£25k pension, £25k LISA, £55k S&S and residual cash) but I’m worried about the longer term impact especially when I decide to purchase a property and have kids. So I would value people’s opinions on whether this is the right move long term.

(Note: in case relevant, the move is also conflicted about how to get back to Edinburgh. I initially moved away from tax as I wanted a more mathematical (rather than legal role) but after a year in the transactions role am finding it too audit heavy and less enjoyable than tax. I fear that moving back to tax although would be an easy way to get to Edinburgh but would pigeonhole myself in tax. However the alternative is to find a whole new job perhaps in finance losing my old stable client base, nice hours and great team back in tax.)

Not sure if this product exists but looking for a camera, ideally 360, that is battery powered, outdoors and needs to be able to stream video locally to my phone without WiFi or 4g.

We have a van that we often sleep in and often hear sounds at night so it would be very helpful to rather than venture out in the night/early morning to quickly check on my phone.

I assume something like this must exist as my old GoPro used to be able to be live streamed from my phone albeit with poor battery and no night vision!

Does anyone know any product like this?

Not sure if this product exists but looking for a camera, ideally 360, that is battery powered, outdoors and needs to be able to stream video locally to my phone without WiFi or 4g.

We have a van that we often sleep in and often hear sounds at night so it would be very helpful to rather than venture out in the night/early morning to quickly check on my phone.

I assume something like this must exist as my old GoPro used to be able to be live streamed from my phone albeit with poor battery and no night vision!

Does anyone know any product like this?

I’m feeling pretty stuck with my career and would really appreciate some outside perspectives.

I graduated with a maths degree in 2022 and joined a big 4 firm on a graduate scheme in tax. I worked on structuring, tax advice and some personal tax work. I enjoyed the client contact, owning work and building relationships, but found the work became more legal than mathematical, so I moved internally to a transactions/valuations team 6 months ago.

Now I’m questioning whether I made the right move.

Pros:
\-The new work is generally more interesting than my previous work
\-It’s more analytical than tax.

Cons:
\-Promotion will be much slower in my new team
\-The work is quite audit-heavy and involves a lot of supporting audit teams rather than sourcing and originating new work.
\-I have far less client interaction, ownership and responsibility than before.
\-I eventually want to move back to Edinburgh, which isn’t possible in my current team but would be in my old one.
\-Furthermore I really loved my old team and also felt really valued whereas I don’t get that here.

My old managers have said they’d happily take me back, so that’s an option. But the thing that’s confusing me is that if I were applying for jobs from scratch today, I’m not sure I’d choose tax.

At the same time, I actually enjoyed the personal finance and personal tax aspects because they felt relatable, whereas my current work (insurance valuations, audit support, etc.) feels much more detached.

Would you stick it out in my current role for longer, go back to my old team, or look for something completely different? Has anyone else been in a similar position?