What is your role within RG ?
I work across both the Accounts and Outsourced Services and the Audit and Assurance service lines.
Tell me about your career to date…
I graduated from Kings College, London University having studied Biological Sciences and decided that I did not want to spend another two years studying for a PhD so I spent three years training to be a Chartered Accountant with a medium-size practice in London instead.
Having spent eight years in London I moved to PKF in Norwich and then on to an independent firm in Cumbria where I became a partner. I then relocated to Newcastle and joined RG and have been here for the last eighteen years.
What does your current role involve?
My role is extremely varied which is what I enjoy most about it. I deal with a wide range of clients from sole traders to multi national companies . Also I have a lot of experience in the agricultural sector and deal with a large number of clients in this industry.
I work with a great team of people delivering services that include audits, accounts and taxation, management accounts and VAT returns.
What makes RG different
At RG we really care about our clients, we want them to succeed with their businesses and we celebrate their successes.
Tell us about your day so far…
Well if I had written this a month or so ago it would have been quite different, so this is a summary of a day in lockdown!
6 am – Walk the dog. He is definitely enjoying lockdown as he gets far longer walks in the morning than he would have had previously. I go out early to avoid the crowds and ensure that I can maintain social distancing. It gets very busy if you leave it much later!
8 am – I get to my desk at the same time as I would in the office as I think it’s important to maintain some sort of structure to the day. It is very much business as usual from home.
9 am – Catch up with team members over Microsoft Teams. It’s great to actually be able to see people as if you were in the office and helps everybody stay more connected.
10 am to 1 pm – Various client calls, Teams meetings and conference calls, dealing with a hugely varied amount of queries, the majority of which are coronavirus assistance related. As I write this the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme portal has just been launched and therefore a lot of time is taken up assisting clients with this.
1 pm – The sun was shining so I sat in the garden, a definite perk of working from home!
1:30 pm to end of day – This was taken up with a series of client calls including an audit planning meeting and discussions as to how we can carry out the audit remotely.
I would normally end the day with another dog walk , but sadly as we are currently limited to one session of exercise a day he has to make do with just being in the garden.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I enjoy watching most sports but particularly football, athletics and cycling, although there is notable lack of these events at the moment. I go on a lot of walks with my husband and the dog, though obviously currently limited to one per day, and I also enjoy swimming, which again I cannot do at the moment! Instead during lockdown I have very sadly developed a love of sorting out cupboards, drawers, and basically anything else that can be sorted or tidied and am glad to say I am not likely to run out of them anytime soon. I really do need to get out more…