When Teresa Gilligan describes a journey that led to her joining independent UK accountancy and business advisory firm Johnston Carmichael in Aberdeen as an “interesting” one, it’s with no small degree of understatement. 

The youthful native of Nottingham and graduate of the University of Leeds arrived in the city having worked with a Big Four firm in Houston, Texas where she had married Julian, a Colombian and in March was appointed as audit director at Johnston Carmichael to support the firm’s continued investment in the north east of Scotland.

With 17 years’ experience in audit and assurance, gained across Big Four and other professional services firms, she has worked with a wide range of clients across sectors that included energy, industrial manufacturing, logistics, and retail supporting listed, private equity backed and owner managed businesses.

She explains that, throughout her career, establishing strong relationships with clients has been a personal priority and that Johnston Carmichael’s relationship‑led ethos strongly resonates with her. The firm’s ambition for growth, combined with its commitment to doing the right thing for its clients and its people, she says, really stood out. 

On her appointment, David Wilson, Aberdeen office head and audit partner said: “The energy sector is undergoing a period of profound transformation and as we mark 90 years in business in 2026, Teresa’s appointment reflects our ongoing investment in our people and our future … With almost 900 colleagues across the firm, her values and experience align strongly with our culture.”

Having spent most of the past seven years in Houston – with its massive ecosystem of more than 4,600 energy companies, including nearly half its Fortune 500 firms – she has spent recent months getting to know the local environment and market.

She originally went to the University of Leeds where she took up management studies with some accounting built in. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do until my final year, so I met with one of the Big Four and was drawn to audit because of the variety it offers, especially as a graduate. I was also intrigued by the opportunity to understand how businesses operate.” 

She began her career on a well-respected graduate scheme which allowed her to work across a variety of sectors and clients of different size.  “I really enjoyed that and it gave me a strong technical foundation but I wanted a new challenge,” she explains. 

“I had some contacts in Houston, both personally and through work, so I decided to take the plunge and transfer over there. Even though in Nottingham we were in the middle of England we had some ties with Houston through a couple of clients that were borderline oil and gas related and had established a small network there – plus a friend from the same firm, had gone to Texas so it seemed something new and a bit of a challenge.

“I think the typical route if you’re in the big four is to move to Sydney or maybe New York but if you want something a bit different – which I did – combined with having the environment of being with a firm that you know and a small network there already, everything aligned for me,” she says.

That decision to make quite an unconventional move reflects an enthusiasm for her work, and for the energy sector that underpins much of what Ms Gilligan says. 

It sounds, she admits, something of a cliché but “everything’s much bigger in Texas. I went from a small office in Nottingham with maybe 200 people to one of the Big Four’s second largest office in the US, so the sheer scale of clients, colleagues and scope of work was on another level, which was great because what I really wanted was a new challenge.”

And as a huge oil and gas hub, Houston proved to be the perfect environment to gain experience in that area. “Moving from England, with clients ranging from luxury shoe designers to food manufacturers into oil and gas was not perhaps the normal transition regarding a client portfolio but I enjoyed it a lot.”

Married to someone also working in the sector and deciding to return to the UK, her decision to contact Johnston Carmichael was informed by the fact that oil and gas is also a priority sector for the firm.  “I had got in touch with the audit team at Johnston Carmichael while I was still in Texas and was considering my options as to whether to just move over to a Big Four firm. 

“I think Aberdeen is unique as a place, and coming in as an outsider it’s fantastic to see the sense of pride everyone has in the industry, wanting to protect it and safeguard it for the community that relies on it,” adds Ms Gilligan.

Those working in the global energy market tend to be in places such as Houston, Dubai and Aberdeen, with different perspectives, depending on which location they are in and the direction in which the energy market is currently moving she says.

“The consistent area is the technology the firms employ, obviously on the renewables side as well. From an accounting perspective there are variances between looking at things from international accounting standards and US accounting standards – which are less of an issue for smaller entities based in Aberdeen – but it’s still a multi-jurisdictional environment.”

The growth of renewable energy is reshaping Aberdeen rather than simply replacing its oil and gas industry which means the city is evolving from being primarily the UK’s oil and gas capital into a broader energy hub; however, the transition is creating both opportunities and significant challenges.

“You can’t escape the need to understand the importance of renewables while maintaining the role of oil and gas so it’s an interesting period for Aberdeen,” says Ms Gilligan. “The future lies in looking at the way those things are balanced and how to take them forward. Aberdeen is having to adapt to that and work out the best way to future-proof itself. 

“There’s a lot of investment in new technologies on both sides, with companies navigating changes in legislation and tax regimes, so as an auditor it involves dealing with a broad spectrum.”

She finds being now located in Aberdeen (despite its chilly blasts from the North Sea) is particularly pleasurable. “Working on my portfolio with Johnston Carmichael allows me to pick up on intriguing nuances of oil and gas, so I can utilise the experience I built up in the UK and the US prior to joining and apply that as these are significant times for the city,” she says.

She adds: “We’ve two small children, and Aberdeen’s stunning – you can be driving through mountains within minutes and the Highlands are just down the road.

“It’s a very friendly and welcoming place which underlies the culture here. We try to utilise our downtime as best we can and a lot of that is centred around travel. We don’t have family in Aberdeen as they’re spread across England, America, and Colombia.

“And while getting a one-year-old and a three-year-old on a plane to South America isn’t always ideal, we do our best to make sure we maintain our connections with family around the world, while hopefully exploring some new places while we do.”

Her role as audit director at Johnston Carmichael, she says, allows her to deal with people, which she clearly appreciates. “From a line manager’s perspective, I enjoy being able to see someone growing in confidence and capability and helping them do that.

“While in terms of working with clients, I love being part of their journey, watching how their business evolves, and being able to support that. What really motivates me is probably a combination of the two.”