A financial accountant for train operator Northern Rail walked away with the award for ‘Young Accountant of the Year Business” at the Accountancy Age Awards.
Andrea Knowles, a financial accountant from Manchester, stepped up to the mark after a couple of colleagues moved into new roles, to ensure the finance department continued to run efficiently.
The young accountant took on full responsibility for the month and shareholder reporting as well as the processing of complex areas such as pension accounting and taxation. She also went on to identify a significant VAT rebate that was due, resulting in a thank you letter from shareholders.
Andrea has also invested her own time in helping to develop and mentor some of her colleagues.
In their citation, the judges praised Andrea’s commitment, attention to detail, team ethics and all round contribution as “a real achievement and something that merits significant acknowledgement.”
On winning the award, Andrea said: “I am delighted to have received the award for Young Accountant of the Year; it was an honour to be nominated and winning is fantastic.”
Ian Bevan, Managing Director, Northern Rail, said: “We are delighted with Andrea’s well deserved success. It is a great recognition of her commitment and skill, and we are very proud of her.”
