Michael Annett is a dual French-British national, French-English bilingual from birth, educated in the UK, who started his professional career as a certified accountant in the UK in 1977.

In the early 1980s, and as ancillary activities to his then employment, Michael helped his family start a successful sheep-farming business and then, being a keen horseman, his entrepreneurial acumen quickly converted what was initially a horse transport hobby into a viable business. Then, in the early 1990s, Michael applied his culinary preferences and quest for perfection to the creation of what became a well-appreciated restaurant.

Despite the success of these ancillary businesses however, Michael's main interest and professional background was in accountancy, taxation and banking in the UK, so he finally combined these personal and business experiences in 1985 to create his UK practice of Taxation Consultants.

Michael's financial competencies and gradual awareness of the need for a more professional approach in Financial Services led him to open a second UK practice in 1990, one of Financial Consultants, which practice acted both as regulated life assurance and investment brokers and as regulated financial advisers. Since qualifying and opening this second practice, he has acquired further UK Financial Services qualifications and still belongs to the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Personal Finance Society, and formerly to the Society of Financial Advisers and the Life Insurance Association until they were were amalgamated with the former.

In 1994 Michael capitalised on the synergies between the two practices and merged them to form a single practice of tax-strategic Financial Consultants. However, by 1996 the notion of independent consultants had asserted itself in the UK — 'independent' meaning that consultants were no longer tied to using one, or one group, of product providers — and so Michael's practice became totally independent of all links to any financial organisation. As a result of this diversification, so too did the number of consultants representing the practice grow and, of course, the support staff, which included an actuary.

It was also in 1996 that much interest was generated in France for French businesses to reduce their employer costs by moving to the UK. Thanks to a connection with his local Chamber of Trade and to being bilingual in French and English, Michael very quickly found himself advising French and other foreign nationals and businesses looking to move, and moving, to the UK.

Somewhat ironically, combined with the large numbers of British nationals who were then seeking to move abroad, these activities led to Michael joining forces with a Paris-based comparative firm to help British nationals relocate permanently to France ... and following suit himself several years later!

So, in 2001, and having sold his UK practice, Michael moved to France. Now with The Annett Consultancy he and his consultants bring his business and professional expertise to foreign nationals looking to be permanently resident in France, and to both French and foreign nationals already resident in the hexagon. Through The Annett Consultancy, Michael and his consultants seek to offer financial assistance and help on a wide array of relevant and finance-related topics, ranging from basic healthcare through to complex international defiscalisation schemes.

As far as he knows, Michael is the only truly bilingual, financially-experienced, qualified multi-professional specialist heading a practice offering these Franco-British financial services — so who better to turn to for fiscal and financial advice in English... for a more relaxed life in France…