Susan is a lifetime fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She started work as an articled clerk in practice and undertook a wide range of audits from small local businesses to a global insurance company and quoted UK multinational groups. She prepared the inaugural set of accounts for the Alzheimer’s Disease Society (the accounting records came in a shoe box!) now, many years later and renamed the Alzheimer’s Society, a large and well-respected charity carrying out very important work. Soon after qualification she decided life as an auditor was not for her and so moved into industry, joining Marley plc from KPMG. During a varied career that spanned more than 30 years she enjoyed working with colleagues of many nationalities and also relished the challenges of implementing computer systems, group accounting packages and managing outsourced services. Understanding the detailed requirements of regulatory and tax authorities in many countries around the world was both very interesting and, at times, frustrating. However, Susan soon learned that a good sense of humour, careful separation of the ‘must-have’ from the ‘nice-to-have’ can provide a productive environment where everyone in the team contributes to a successful outcome.
Susan juggled long hours at work, including many overseas trips, with a part-time role as a carer for her parents so she is very aware of the great benefit to both the patient and the carer that a well-targeted charitable assistance can provide. She applauds the work that WTN does in keeping blind and partially-sighted people in contact with local events and news.
In her retirement Susan began playing bridge and also enjoys gardening, walking and keeping fit.