A TAX advice specialist who lives at Owlesbury has set out her stall as the new head of an organisation representing 2,300 chartered accountants in Hampshire.

Karen Wilson, a partner with Southampton-based Lines Wilson LLP, takes over from Lee Blunden as president of the Southern Society of Chartered Accountants.

Its 4,100 membership is drawn from Hampshire, south Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight.

Mrs Wilson said: "We want to reach out to businesses, from the well-established ones down to the start-ups, so they can count on our members to help guide them successfully through the maze of tax and accounting issues.

"For example, there are new tax issues facing property developers in connection with the new planning gain supplement, which will have a big financial impact.

"There is already a bewildering array of tax issues facing businesses, and they can rely on SOSCA members to assist them."

Mrs Wilson added: "It's a genuine honour to be the president of SOSCA and I hope to build upon the great work that Lee has done."

Another of her priorities for SOSCA, of which she was previously deputy president, will be to support high-level training and networking events.

Mrs Wilson qualified as an accountant in 1990 with Basingstoke firm, Brooking Knowles & Lawrence, which is now part of the Tenon group, before spells at the south coast offices of Smith & Williamson and Ernst & Young.

She is married with two children and her hobbies include travel, walking, swimming and pilates.

The association's new deputy president is Norman Armstrong, who lives in Winchester.

He is a partner at business advisers, Grant Thornton, in Southampton.