Undergraduate of the Year ‘Future CFO’ 2016 winner Molly Ashton visits the capital of the European Union

Shortly about to commence her final year of studies before starting a graduate role in Tax at PwC, Molly was chosen as our winner. Intelligent, with an adaptive thought process having the power to influence others, she showed all of the skills desirable for a future CFO. Molly also proves that you don't have to fit a certain mould to become an accountant: she is an avid fashion and beauty blogger, traveller, and animal lover! She describes her trip to Brussels in her blog here 

With our finalists being asked to debate the threats and opportunities associated with BREXIT for a small to medium business owner, a part of Molly’s prize was the unique opportunity to spend 2 days in the European Headquarter in Brussels, to meet with influential business advisors, EU officials, and even getting an exclusive tour of the European Parliament, organised by ACCA Brussels office.

First on the agenda was a meeting with Clara Lemaire, Head of the Brussels Office of Centrica, Sean McGuiree, Director of the CBI Brussels office and Cian Rice, director of EU Government relations for Barclays. They all stressed that the Brexit vote had increased the necessity for UK businesses to have a presence in Brussels. This allows companies to obtain intelligence on, and influence policies affecting their activities, and also to act as a link between the EU institutions and their UK offices. Meeting with influential people in the financial sector in Brussels helped Molly to understand some of the wider issues taking place following on from the BREXIT vote. Molly also heard a presentation by our Brussels office on ACCA’s EU affairs activities and on how Brussels works. 

On Day 2 of the trip, after a meeting with Peter Ujvari, a member of ACCA Corporate Reporting Global Forum and senior IFRS expert at the KBC bank, Molly received an exclusive invite to the European Commission and to the European Parliament. One of the Commission's main roles is to propose legislation, which is then adopted by the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

The ACCA delegation visited the Directorate General in charge for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), where Valérie Ledure, an ACCA member and the Deputy Head of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Unit, gave an overview of the work of the European Commission in general, and of her unit, more specifically.  

The group then had the opportunity to get a private guided tour around the impressive European Parliament by Rhiannon Price, the Senior Policy Advisor of Welsh MEP Kay Swinburne, predominantly active in the field of financial services.

After lunch at the EP’s canteen, the ACCA group was joined by Andrea Laskava, a special adviser to EPP’s President MEP Manfred Weber, who shared with us precious insights on the functioning of the EP and the internal political games.

In addition to better understanding the role of the European institutions, Molly also got to enjoy the cultural side of Brussels with visits to the Magritte Museum, the Royal Palace, the old town centre and of course eating Belgian waffles and frites.

Reflecting on the trip Molly said:

"I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Brussels, understanding more about the EU parliament and what ACCA's role is in the city was really interesting. It was strange to go from ACCA's huge London HQ to an office of two members in Brussels who work more closely with the parliament and commission to understand policies. The trip has helped me understand how diverse ACCA's role is across the world and has definitely intrigued me to find out more in the future!"

Do yourself proud! Martin talks of how there's nothing to lose when applying for the Undergraduate of the Year Awards

I was just finishing some January assignments at University and had a free afternoon where I thought I would apply. I always wanted to apply, and the Department of Economics at Warwick sent around emails encouraging us to do so, but I was not quite sure which category to go for and didn’t have too much time to look into it but once the assignments were out of the way, I concluded that the Future CFO category best-suited my skillset. Not only that, but the prize – a trip around Europe! – looked incredible!

After answering three competency questions, we had four online tests to do. These were quite hard, especially given the time pressures, but ultimately if I wasn’t very good at analysing pie charts or answering the other numerical/logical tests, then I wouldn’t make a very good CFO anyway! So it was a very good test and one which tells you a lot about yourself.

Soon after, I got an email from ACCA inviting me to the next round: record yourself in a one-minute video outlining your views on Brexit! This was something I had done a lot of research in, and understandably had a lot of interest in given I study economics, so I was very happy to do so, but there were still some nerves knowing you have to record yourself on camera!

Amazingly I got through to the next round: a debate with an MP furthering our views on Brexit from what we outlined in the video. This was a superbly well-run event and given the calibre of students I was so pleased to be able to share the room with these people and give my inputs.

Whatever the outcome, I knew I had done myself proud with my research and met some fantastic people who I could learn a lot from, but it was then amazing to get the email telling me I had got through to the final!

I was so excited for this event, as were my University! After a long, but ultimately very fun and interactive, selection process, this was a day for us to mingle and get to know other incredible like-minded people. It was such an incredible opportunity to get here, to meet Fiona Bruce, to meet other ACCA professionals and to build my network with other students from different degree fields. The three-course meal was fantastic, and whilst I did not win, I was super pleased for the eventual winner and I know I walk away from the competition much better placed in terms of the graduate job market with this to my CV, and also with an ever-increasing network built.

My advice is clear: apply! I walked away so proud of myself – I knew I didn’t let myself down and couldn’t have done much better – so there is nothing to lose, be yourself and utilise every opportunity in life to make yourself stand out – and this is one of the best ones to take!

Find out what Aataullah has been up to since winning the Future CFO Undergraduate of the year award!

I can truly say that winning an Undergraduate of the Year Award has had a huge impact on me the past few months. I’ve not had much of a break over the summer break but I suppose it is worth it in the long run! Alongside my trip to Shanghai, I also interned at Grant Thornton and TalkTalk, the second being the internship I won with the award. Both internships were brilliant at exposing me to the world of finance. Coming from a mathematics background, it has been an excellent opportunity to discover finance in practice and also in industry.

At Grant Thornton, I spent four weeks in the audit division. I learned about how the process takes place and I was able to look into different stages of the audit for a number of clients. However, I spent most of my four weeks at a larger client, and was able to see the transition from the middle of the audit, nearing to completion. This was a great opportunity as it meant that my work was varied, and I was able to gain more exposure. Also, spending most of my time at a single client gave me a glimpse into the real life of an auditor. I worked with a great team of people who were always willing to help despite my lack of financial knowledge!

I won the internship with TalkTalk through ACCA, and I was very excited to work at such a large company. I did not know much about telecommunications, but working at TalkTalk has shown me that it is an interesting and lively industry. I was looking forward to it from the beginning as it would be an insight into the other side of finance, being in industry. I was lucky enough to gain an insight into different parts of the company through finance, the main two departments being overheads and accounts payable. I enjoyed the internship very much as I was able to find out all the work that goes into producing financial statements. I never had much exposure to financial statements before this summer, but the internships have really helped me discover how not only to understand them but also the information about the company you can gain from them! Also, my internship timed with their half year end, and I was able to take part in several meetings with the managers and finance controllers, which was really interesting as it gave me a flavour of the transition from finance to business, and how financial information can be used to make business decisions.

As I mentioned before, ACCA had kindly presented a trip to Shanghai as part of the award. This was a fabulous opportunity where I met with many financial leaders including CFOs! I was given the opportunity to shadow a CFO at Starwood Hotels Group, one of the largest hotel groups in China, and I learned more about the CFO role itself. I also had the opportunity to meet Grant Thornton in China, which was amazing having already worked at the company in the UK. Speaking to several partners, I learned about business strategies that were being implemented and I was pleased to see that the same values and ambitions in the UK were being resonated in China!

Speaking to the CFOs, I discovered the transition between being an accountant and being able to manage and lead the finance department, and the skills that are required to ensure the success of your career and the organisation. I learned how the ACCA qualification helps one achieve such a transition. Whether it’s here in the UK or in Shanghai, the qualification is looked upon highly, and it is throughout the world. It lets others know you have the technical knowledge needed for a business to operate successfully. The trip really opened my eyes to the recognition for such a qualification, I hope to one day become a qualified accountant myself!

The award has really opened up a lot of doors since I won in April. I’ve been able to expand my network internationally and I discovered more about China, a country I never imagined I would travel to anytime soon! Since ACCA and TargetJobs are so well recognised, winning the award has really boosted my CV. Being able to take part in internships over the summer has also boosted my CV, but it has also helped me discover new skills that I may not have throughout my academic life. Being able to gain an insight into finance in both practice and industry has confirmed my ambitions to work in finance. The award has helped me decide where I would like my career to take me, and I do hope that I can one day become a CFO!

If there is even a small part of you that believes you can become an undergraduate of the year I would insist you apply. Not only is it amazing recognition, but you will get to take part in so many things that could have lasting impacts on your future. I never imagined I would be winning an award when I applied, but I also never imagined the opportunities that would come my way having done so. It has been a fantastic half year since I won, and I only hope the opportunities to learn and develop more keep coming my way!