The International Practice Group (IPG)’s Spring Conference was held at the Palazzo Borghese located in the historic centre of Florence Italy. The first “live’ event for two and a half years included presentations on the economy of Tuscany, the use of tax incentives to attract inward investment, corporate social responsibility and environmentally responsible investing and governance, the advantages and challenges of artificial intelligence, creating a sustainable supply chain and the contracting and contractual consequences of such steps. Laytons’ Managing Partner and Arbitrator, John Abbott presented on collaborative working — a theme of the conference following the pandemic.

Partner, Nicholas Lakeland, was elected Chairman who follows on from Graham Wallace after seven highly successful years at the helm.

In his address, Nicholas stated:

“I am delighted and very honoured and to have been elected to the position of chairman and hope that in my tenure I can bring a renewed vigour and a vision to IPG.

IPG now needs to look to the future and build on our very strong foundations. We need to renew friendships and reinvigorate business relationships. We need to look to expand and deepen our worldwide reach and continue to find opportunities to work together and exploit the possibilities that come from the long-standing and close relationships which exist within our group.

I look forward to a bright future for all our members and hope you will all want to join me on what is going to be a very exiting journey for us all.”

The International Practice Group is an active international knowledge platform which connects independent professionals in the field of tax advice, law and accountancy on a global level.