Whilst studying at University I always said there is no way I wanted to be an accountant. Then when I left I realised what great graduate schemes accounting firms offer.

After taking a year working this out, I applied for a couple of schemes and after a few months at one accounting firm I joined Mazars as a trainee auditor. It became obvious that audit was not the path for me and I was fortunate to be asked to work on a forensic accounting project we had in our Nottingham office. The case was fascinating, with the Serious Fraud Office being involved. Although my task was tough going, analysing bank statements day in day out, the “bigger picture” was not. After nearly a year, that project came to a close for me and I was asked to stay in the relatively new forensic accounting team. With a new Forensic Accounting Partner joining the Mazars Birmingham office I worked my way through the ranks to the role of Director. After 15.5 years at Mazars, I made the decision that I wanted to establish my own Forensic Accounting team.

So, in March 2019 I joined Azets to establish a forensic accounting team in the Midlands. Then in November 2022 I joined Crowe U.K. LLP as an equity Partner. I can genuinely say it’s been the right move for me, I love my job, well most of the time, due to variety of cases I work on and the fact no cases are ever the same. I especially love working on fraud investigations and even more so when the “wrong doer” is rightly punished for the crime they commit.

Describe a typical day

Since moving to Crowe I’ve found that I work more efficiently (I have to with three children under 5) and therefore my work pattern involves:

Get into the office around 8 to 8:15am, get a cup of tea and respond to emails I had put off the day before. 

No day ever starts the same as I have a mixture of travelling to offices some days (Birmingham, Oldbury, Manchester and London being the most frequent), helping with kid drops offs or working from home. Crowe allows the flexibility to enable me to plan my personal and working life together.

My day will invariably involve dealing with lots of admin issues, lots of client calls, doing chargeable client work - often report writing and reviewing analysis, coffees or lunches with potential referrers of work, and not forgetting being involved in office banter at someone else's expense rather than my own!

I try to log off around 5 to ensure I am home to help put the children to bed. Then if needed I work later at home. However, this is not always possible with various marketing events and project work – but I strive to achieve a 5 finish.

The nature of our work often means tight deadlines so the ability to work longer hours when needed is required, but the upside of this is that when the pressure is off is to relax those hours.

Why did you choose Birmingham?

Once I knew I was going to go to University my first choice was always Manchester (as a United season ticket holder it was the obvious choice) but as my sister was the year ahead she beat me to it,  I do get on well with my sister but just wanted my own space!

Therefore, I decided on Birmingham as being the best place for me due to its location.

Once I came to the University Open Day I knew it was the right place – the campus had an American College feel to it, the “one site” look and the fact it felt like it was part of its own town appealed. And sampling the Student Union on the Open Day convinced me – £1 a pint!

What are your fondest memories of your time at Birmingham?

I have a few:

• Meeting new people who have become friends for life.
• Becoming an “adult” and looking after myself. Before University I was next to useless, my wife may still think I am!
• The term end socials at the Union were always memorable – I remember one where we had a massive chain of people sitting outside the Union singing “we are sailing” pretending to be in rowing boats. All in protest as we didn’t want the night to end.
• Playing football on the new (at the time) water based astros nearly every day.
• Getting confirmation of my degree.

What is your top career tip?

I have a few things that I would class as career tips.

• You and you alone are in charge of the destiny of your career. You will meet people who will help and guide you but you need to do what is best for you.
• Don’t be afraid of making changes when needed and don’t feel selfish if you make career choices that benefit you.
• Work hard and always treat others how you wish to be treated, regardless of what grade they are.
• Finally, you may “flex” the person you are depending on certain circumstances but always be yourself.

What one word would you use to describe the University of Birmingham?

Special