ICAS’s top Scottish accountants under 35 in profile

The global body of finance professionals said the list, which includes entries spanning six continents, recognises “the best and brightest Chartered Accountants who are making a difference to the profession and to society”.

For the next 15 days Scottish Financial News will be profiling each of the Scottish representatives.

Today we profile: John Wilmot CA, 32, who is nominated in the Entrepreneurship Category.

More information on ICAS’s 35 Chartered Accountants (CAs) under 35.

John Wilmot CA, 32

CEO, Nameloop, Glasgow

John trained to become a CA with Wylie & Bisset in Glasgow and once qualified, he moved to Brewin Dolphin to work in their investment banking team on M&A deals and IPOs. In 2009 John started a new digital marketing agency which grew quickly before being sold in 2011. John has recently invested his passion and talents into a new venture; Nameloop, an app which allows people to share contact details and personal information.

“In 2009 I got the opportunity to start a new digital marketing agency which we called Bourne, where I took on the role of FD. The business grew quickly with me setting up the legal trading entity in the US for our New York office. We were doing nearly £3m revenue with around a 30% net margin - this attracted attention from bigger players in the space. We sold in 2011 to Next Fifteen Plc. I stayed with the business for a further two years where I was promoted to FD, EMEA of a larger subsidiary, Bite.

In 2013 the entrepreneurial bug hit me again and I left Bite to start Nameloop, an app that allows people to share contact and personal information. The vision is to be the world’s network for people to store and share their personal info meaning people control their data and who had access to it; creating one place for managing changes with people and companies you’re connected to.

The technical aspects of being a CA are clearly very important to the roles I’ve had in my career and have set an extremely stable base from which to develop. However, the most important thing for me is being true to myself and the strong ethical stance that comes with being a CA. Trust is huge in business and this has stood me in good stead. Before I setup Bourne, I was with another digital agency very briefly where the company was full of fraud and inappropriate accounting treatment. I had to contact the ICAS ethical support, seek legal advice on my position and also write a TPE (final ICAS reporting exam) style report to the then board of that company, aged just 25! But I stood strong and it was this that gained me the support and trust of people around me who asked me to be part of the new venture (Bourne) that ultimately accelerated my career.”