Never a dull moment
Read time: 3 mins
Catherine Floyd joined us a trainee in 2013, having started her career in the medical sector. In this interview, Catherine explains how a decision to specialise in a supposedly niche area of our Financial Services offering took her to one of the world’s largest insurance brokers.
Why did you join PKF Littlejohn?
I’d completed a degree in psychology and then started working in healthcare in various hospitals with a view to going back to university to study medicine. However, I realised during the course of my work that the business departments in hospitals tended to have considerable influence in decision making, so I started to rethink my plans. My research suggested that an accountancy qualification would help me to better understand how businesses operated, so I decided to go down that route and applied to join PKF Littlejohn’s trainee programme.
Tell us about your time at the firm?
I was 26 by the time I started at PKF Littlejohn – making me at least a couple of years older than the rest of the trainee intake – so I was nicknamed ‘Nanna Cath’! I hadn’t expected to enjoy working in an accountancy firm and didn’t think I’d have much in common with auditors, but I loved it here and got the opportunity to work with people who are still good friends now. I joined the firm’s highly-regarded Financial Services team and ended up specialising in client money audits in the insurance broking sector. Given I went into accountancy to get a qualification to help me run a hospital, you might have thought I’d have been reluctant to end up in a niche area. But it turned out to be an inspired choice and the start of an interesting, if unexpected, career…
What did you do next?
My seven years at PKF Littlejohn helped me to secure a role in the client money team at one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, Aon. The specialist skills that I learnt at PKF Littlejohn have proved invaluable, as has the experience of juggling multiple assignments. I began as maternity cover at Aon and am just about to return from maternity leave myself, having given birth to my first child, Caleb, almost exactly a year ago.
What do you miss most about PKF Littlejohn?
The firm is incredibly sociable. I left almost five years ago but still stay in touch with a lot of the people I worked with – I think I’ve been to five weddings involving former colleagues in the last few years! I also enjoyed the flexibility that the firm provided. I still have fond memories of the six-month sabbatical that I took during which I travelled across Central America, from Mexico down to Columbia.
And what’s next for you?
Getting back to work after a year on maternity leave – I’m hoping that I can remember how to communicate with adults in a business setting! And I’m planning to get married next year. So never a dull moment!