![]() They didn’t take any prisoners and didn’t tolerate excuses. I used to play a bit of inter-office cricket, the most competitive cricket I’d ever experienced. The culture and attitude was so different to ours I learned about their intolerance to excuses. I didn’t know anybody there and I was only twenty-six but determined to enjoy it and make it a success.Īustralia really opened my eyes and gave me a really good understanding of why they are successful in sport. I was accepted on to the exchange programme and they sent me to Brisbane. A lot of the stuff I learned there, especially people management and leadership skills has stayed with me. The professional development and training at PW was excellent and thankfully I continued to be promoted. It was the most meritocratic organisation of its kind I had heard of and it was very rewarding. Every year you were promoted or you left. The Price Waterhouse culture was challenging it was up or out. ![]() I joined as an assistant manager and at the time you had to gain a promotion to manager level to get on the exchange programme. When he said: “What would you say if I offered you a job now?” I said: “I’d ask how much you are offering.” He told me and I asked for a bit more – he quite liked that, raised the offer and I said: “Done.” The staff partner who conducted the interview seemed to really understand me as a person and I warmed to him. I went for an interview at Price Waterhouse, now PwC, and was offered a job on the spot. But I knew I had to leave the firm I’d trained with in Edinburgh and go to a bigger firm to have a chance of going. I had a desire to travel – I had my heart set on going to Australia. If you really want to get under the skin of a business, that is a great way to learn. In fact, I would say to anyone who’s serious about being an accountant, don’t discount joining a small to medium sized audit firm. I learned that you see difficulties in a business by looking at the books and getting a feel for the overall state of the business, the big picture, and that was very influential for me. If your first job sees you going in at a big 4 accountancy firm, you may well be auditing a very small part of a global organisation. I started with all the basics, like book-keeping and tax returns, and it was a brilliant way of understanding what makes a business successful. It was a mixture of some reasonably sized retail and manufacturing businesses and lots of small and medium sized enterprises. When you started auditing, what companies did you work with? I moved on to do my CA training at a medium sized audit firm in Edinburgh. I had a great time at university and the part of the course I enjoyed most was Economics and Accounting. I listened to him and I’m so pleased I did. He was in financial services and was very numerate, very analytical – like me. He asked me what was putting me off accounting and said it would open a lot more doors for me. I ticked the box for Chemistry and then my dad very cleverly set out to influence me to change my mind. I had an unconditional offer from Edinburgh University, and another to do a Business Studies and Accounting degree. I was very good at it and really enjoyed it. When I was making my university choice, I was going to do Chemistry. You started off in finance how did that come about? ![]() In the first of two instalments, he discusses his formative years and early influences on his career. With over 8,000 employees across the globe, the profits generated by LR fund the Lloyd’s Register Foundation a charity which supports engineering-related research, education and public engagement around everything they do as a company.Īlastair shared his story and thoughts on leadership with Mark Craddock, Head of CFO and Finance at Eton Bridge Partners. Today, they are one of the world’s leading providers of professional services for engineering and technology – improving safety and increasing the performance of critical infrastructures for clients in over 75 countries worldwide. Lloyd’s Register, also known as LR, started out in 1760 as a marine classification society. Alastair Marsh is CEO of Lloyd’s Register – a world leader in professional services for clients in technology and energy. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |