Our Head of Finance, Maggie Lawson, 29, took home the ‘Young Professional’ award at the Sub36 Awards in Blackpool after impressing the judges with her career progression at ICS since joining the company two and a half years ago.

Maggie said: “I was very surprised when the judge announced that I had won the category of Young Professional – mainly because of the high calibre of finalists in my category. Ultimately, I was very proud that the judges had recognised the achievements I have reached at a relatively young age.”

“All of my colleagues, particularly the ICS managing director, John Lyon, and operations director, Steve Cornwall, were very excited when they found out about the award. I was inundated with lovely messages from friends and family congratulating me on my achievement. My mum is a professor at Lancaster University and has taught me that the only way to achieve success is to work hard and remain determined, no matter what hurdles are thrown at you.”

She added: “I very much consider myself to be a loyal Lancastrian. I am really proud to work for a Lancaster business, knowing that our work contributes to our local community by supporting other local businesses and providing opportunities.”

On a day to day basis, Maggie orchestrates and manage the external and internal accounts teams.  She ensures our clients receive a high level of service by monitoring KPIs and reviewing systems so that we are constantly improving our offering.  In respect of the group’s finances, Maggie manages the month end process and associated statutory reporting to ensure we not only hit deadlines but meaningful management information is available for the senior management team to real-time strategic decisions.

A number of our accountants are training towards various accountancy qualifications.  Maggie delivers internal accounting training and offers various opportunities for study support within ICS.

She feels passionate about qualifications working alongside experience, one of the reasons she is a board member of the ICAEW’s Learning and Professional Development board. The up and coming ACAs are integral to domestic and international business success – “accountants are much more than bean counters, they are imperative to implementing strategic plans.”

We asked Maggie what she enjoyed about her current role at ICS.

“I enjoy getting into the detail of management information analysis.  Looking at patterns and trends historically and mapping out how this will look moving forward.  This enables strategic plans to be carried out.  Once facts are established you can set out the detail to your team meaning that everyone is on board with plans from the outset.”

Meet the rest of the ICS management team.

To find out more about the accountancy support we provide to contractors, freelancers and small business owners, click here.