My Career History
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1983 - 1990
I left school in 1983 and started working for Clydesdale Bank PLC in a variety of locations, including the London Chief Office and the Head Office in Glasgow. Having completed my banking exams in 1988, I decided that I wished to go to university.
1990 - 1994
I studied at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, graduating 2(i) in Accountancy and Computer Science and winning four year prizes during my time there. Although my primary interest was in IT, I felt that the combination of IT and finance would be very useful and I decided to train as a Chartered Accountant through ICAS.
1994 - 1998
I trained as a CA with Hardie Caldwell, a medium-sized firm of chartered accountants based in Glasgow, where I had worked during the summer breaks form University. Although not as well-known as the large accountancy firms, they offered excellent training and responsibility from a very early stage and trainees were expected to be accountable for their work almost immediately. In addition, it afforded me the opportunity to liaise with the owners and managers of businesses myself, rather than leaving this to managers or partners.
Having qualified, I knew that I wished to work in industry rather than practice; despite knowing this, the firm still offered me opportunities and interesting work, culminating with a period working with a client in the Glasgow Stock Exchange.
1998 - 2006
I applied for, and was offered, a job with William Lawson Distillers in Coatbridge, a whisky distiller and bottler and part of the Bacardi group. Very shortly after I joined, Bacardi acquired the brands of Dewars Scotch Whisky and Bombay Sapphire. Lawsons changed its name to John Dewar & Sons Ltd and acquired four distilleries, quintupling its capacity. There then followed a period of significant change as the two businesses were merged and the company expanded its production fiacilities to cope with the massively expanded operation. During my time at Dewars, I had a variety of roles in the Finance Team, starting as company accountant and developing to Financial Analyst.
Although the work was challenging, interesting and often varied, my interest remained in IT matters and, in 2006, I took the option of voluntary redundancy and returned to full-time study.
2006 - 2007
I took an MSc in Information Technology at University of Glasgow, updating the skills I acquired at Heriot-Watt and gaining new ones. The course was very intensive and got progressively harder; however, that seems to be the pattern for Masters degrees, judging by discussion with other graduates from other disciplines. I graduated with Distinction in 2007.
2007 - date
I am currently doing a PhD at University of Strathclyde in Carbon Footprinting Methodologies for Housing and Small Businesses. The resaerch is funded by BRE. I am part of a team of three students, supervised by Professor John Counsell, within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Whilst not having an engineering background, the project places a significant emphasis on web technology and IT-related areas.
Qualifications