Jul 5, 2016
I’m a salaried Partner at Big 4 accountancy firm EY (Ernst & Young). I lead their R&D Incentives offering across the Midlands, ensuring companies gain credit for the interesting and clever technical things they are doing. People initially think being a tax advisor must be boring (some areas are!) but the one I am in has allowed me to work with a number of the Formula 1 team, for instance.
I now live out in rural Shropshire with my wife, three daughters and various pets!
From DHSB, where I won the Kitchener Scholarship, I gained a First Class Honours in Mechanical & Marine Engineering at university. I subsequently qualified as a Chartered Tax Advisor and have now worked for three of the four largest firms in a 21 year career.
I wanted to join the Navy as a harrier pilot (having been born in Plymouth and brought up in Portsmouth/Plymouth/Bermuda) but was told I was colour blind. Hence the switch from an Engineering degree at uni to a career in accountancy (but with the R&D side of things ensuring I utilise my whole skillset). Essentially a different way of messing around with numbers all day, with a technical purpose!
Stay grounded and don’t take yourself too seriously. A lot of people over the years have said they loved working for me because I don’t have the typical sense of superiority and distance that tends to come with seniority.
The transition from primary to secondary can be daunting at times but don’t let anyone get you down. Work hard and you’ll have the last laugh at some point.
Enjoy uni and choose a subject you like. Employers tend to look for result and application/work ethic rather than subject.
Going to Bermuda at 14 at 4’11” and 7.5 stone sopping wet and coming back for 6th form 6’ and 15 stone and going straight into the first XV rugby team!
No idea if he’s still around but I owe an awful lot to the teaching skills and patience of my old Maths teacher Mr Attewell.