Experienced auditor goes back to school

She's worked at some of the country’s largest financial establishments, but now Vicki McDonald has gone back to school.

With experience working for international organisations such as Deloitte and HMRC, Mrs McDonald has returned to her former school at Dame Allan’s, in Newcastle, to work as bursar.

Her appointment sees her return to the Schools which she attended two decades ago, and it is where she attributes her love for economics and business.

Following the completion of her A Levels, Mrs McDonald went on to study Business Management at Newcastle University. It was during her studies that she convinced multinational firm Deloitte to take her on as an auditor after impressing during a summer work placement.

She continued to catch the eye as she worked towards her ACA qualification, winning a national prize in the Auditing Exam to go with her regional accolades.

After the birth of her second child in 2007, she decided she needed a change of pace and worked as a tutor for Kaplan Financial for six years, teaching graduates and school leavers in a variety of subjects in accountancy, audit, law and business.

Newcastle-based chartered accountants and business advisers UNW enticed Mrs McDonald back into auditing where she worked as a senior manager until 2016, before her spell with HMRC. Yet the pull of her former school proved too strong and she has ended back at Dame Allan’s Schools.

She said: “The role at HMRC gave me the chance to be in a completely different type of organisation, working with large companies in a different way; trying to make sure that how they accounted for their numbers led to them paying the right amount of tax. The figures involved were often multi millions!

“I learned a lot from my time at HMRC but missed the smaller company environment with people I could build real relationships with.

“In the meantime, I had re-engaged with my old school and hoped to send my son there. I was thrilled when he was offered a place in March, and I instantly felt connected with Dame Allan’s again. 

“When I saw the bursar’s job advertised, it ticked all the boxes; the variety of the role and the combination of business and education brought together my past experiences. To top it off I get to be integral to a small business which really means something to me.”