Celebrating success

Friends, families, employers and sponsors recently toasted the success of the June 2003 prizewinners at the largest prize-giving event ever to be held at ACCA's headquarters.

An audience of 120 guests and sponsors attended ACCA’s largest prize-giving ceremony to date, celebrating the outstanding achievements of students from 12 different countries around the world.

The event was the first prize-giving ceremony presided over by ACCA President Sam Wong – who is the first President from a non-European Union member country. Another first occurrence was the achievement of bronze medal winner Alex Sapala, the first African student to win a medal.

The ceremony was also the first to include winners from the previous examination session. Individual paper prizewinners from the December 2002 exams, Wu Chen from China and Goh Yong Siang from Singapore were invited to London to receive certificates and meet the President, having been prevented from travelling earlier in the year following the outbreak of SARS in south east Asia.

But for some prizewinners, it wasn’t the first time they had found themselves celebrating achievement at ACCA HQ. Paper 2.2 prizewinner Dr Keri Dexter, was back again this year after winning the Paper 1.2 prize in the June 2002 examinations.

And Damian Joseph, who works in corporate recovery at Smith & Williamson in London, was on his third visit, this time collecting the Paper 3.5 prize, along with the coveted gold medal for an aggregate mark of 237 in the final three core papers.

In his speech to prizewinners, sponsors, and guests, Sam Wong talked of his pride in being the first President elected from Hong Kong, and ACCA’s centenary celebrations, launched in Hong Kong on 1 December 2003.

‘I know that during the course of the year, we will honour the fact that we have held true to the vision and values of our founding fathers in 1904. Their mission was to open up accountancy to people of application and ability, no matter what their background, or their location,’ said Wong.

‘Our prizewinners are the perfect embodiment of that ideal – they clearly have huge amounts of ability, but they also have plenty of stories to share about the amount of application required to pass ACCA examinations, let alone excel in them.

‘And when it comes to location – we are delighted to be joined by prizewinners from such varied countries as Singapore, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Pakistan, Malawi, Ghana, Poland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and New Zealand,’ he added.

The President noted that the employment backgrounds of the prizewinners illustrated the wide range of careers open to ACCA students and members. The prizewinners work in the health sector, in banking, for the Big Four, in public and private practice, in audit, as finance professionals in the media, in the printing and engineering sectors, in local government, in the police, in the financial services sector, and in corporate recovery.

Wong said that the theme of responsibility would be at the heart of the centenary events, which will take place in 30 countries across the world throughout 2004.

‘Responsibility underpins everything which accountants and finance professionals do. It is as critical today as it was one hundred years ago when ACCA was founded. It is central to the conduct of responsible, ethical business,’ Wong said.

‘ACCA remains committed to its responsibility to ensure that the professional qualification continues to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of core accounting and auditing principles, coupled with a strong ethical foundation, as well as an understanding of strategic performance.

‘ACCA also takes its responsibility seriously when it comes to providing a knowledgeable and independent international voice to serve the public good and further the development of the accounting profession.

‘We are working with governments, regulators and standard setters around the world to help them put structures in place, which ensure that – in a post-Enron world –their countries follow best practice,’ continued Wong.

The President then thanked the following sponsors of the prizes for their invaluable support: PQ Magazine, MGI Wenham, Witan Jardine, the Tenon Group, Foulks Lynch, Abbey, BPP Professional Education, the Sphere Group, Nationwide Building Society, Centrica, Littlejohn Frazer and TNT UK Limited.

Gold medal winner, Damian Joseph, score 237

The gold medallist from the June 2003 examinations, with the excellent aggregate score of 237 marks in the final three papers is Damian Joseph. Damian not only excels in ACCA’s examinations, having been an individual paper winner on three occasions, but also works in the demanding area of insolvency and corporate recovery. This is why ACCA also honoured him with its new accountant of the year award at the recent Accountancy Age awards in London.

Sponsored by TNT UK Limited
Express delivery and logistics expert TNT UK Limited sponsors the gold medal prize and continues to collect its own impressive array of awards. In addition to a coveted Queen’s Award for enterprise, European and UK quality prizes for business excellence, national training and Investor in People Awards, TNT was the first express delivery company to be awarded a five-star rating by the British Safety Council. TNT has also been included in the BT Vision 100 index of the most visionary companies and organisations in the UK.

It recently won the Government’s National Training Award – the UK’s highest accolade for excellence in workplace development – and was named as one of Britain’s top 100 employers in 2003.

TNT has also achieved platinum-accredited status for the quality of its ACCA training scheme. ‘The ACCA qualification is the only globally-recognised qualification which enables accountants who complete it to operate in today and tomorrow’s knowledge-based economy,’ said John Mort, senior finance manager with TNT Logistics.

TNT, which has 56 depots and sorting centres in the UK, has a stated aim to be the best and most successful provider of time-certain express delivery and logistics services in the UK.

Importantly for ACCA, with its history of campaigning for improved corporate social responsibility, TNT UK Limited is committed to operating safely and caring for the environment in the course of its business activities.

Silver medal winner, Angela Kenney, score 224

With a score of 224, the silver medallist for June 2003 is Angela Kenney, a management accountant with Trinity Mirror Southern newspapers in London. Angela’s achievement is particularly noteworthy given that while she was studying for these examinations, she was also organising her wedding. Angela is quick to acknowledge those who have inspired her in achieving the silver medal. She hopes to be a finance director in the future, and also to inspire others to achieve their goals.

Sponsored by BPP
BPP Business Education is sponsor of the silver medal prize. ACCA courses are offered by more than 20 BPP established training centres in the UK, as well as a number of centres in satellite locations.

BPP has more than 25 years of experience in helping students through their Professional scheme studies, with pass rates consistently well above average. BPP also has an international presence with centres in the Caribbean, Channel Islands, Czech Republic, Hungary, Isle of Man, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia.

The ACCA-BPP Virtual Campus – an online facility which enables students to prepare themselves for ACCA examinations through an interactive computer-based programme – continues to develop and expand. It enables students to learn at their own pace, where and when it is convenient for them. The campus comprises interactive learning and practice modules with feedback and progress reports from online tutors. It can be used as an alternative to classroom-based tuition or as a form of home study to be used in conjunction with textbooks. ACCA students are also able to book and sit computer-based examinations with BPP.

Bronze medal winner, Alex Sapala, score 237

With a final score of 221 in the final module papers, the winner of the bronze medal for June 2003 is Alex Sapala.

Alex perfectly demonstrates ACCA’s global reach. He comes from Malawi, took his final exams in Nicosia, Cyprus, and joins Nagler Wolfson in the UK this year.

Alex says that he will never stop learning and developing both personally and professionally with ACCA. He hopes the ACCA qualification will enable him to work in a major global organisation and use his skills to help alleviate poverty and suffering in the developing world.

Sponsored by Abbey
Abbey has a long-standing relationship with ACCA, achieving ACCA Gold Accredited Employer status in 1997.

Abbey’s head offices are in London, Milton Keynes, Bradford, Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is also represented in Ireland, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Australia and the US and has 18 million customers, 1.8 million shareholders and employs nearly 30,000 people worldwide.

It is the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK.

Individual paper prizewinners

Paper 1.1
Joint prizewinners with the score of 94% are Sarah Usher from the UK and Kafui Ama A Dei Tutu from Ghana. Sarah is an assistant auditor with the Bank of Ireland internal audit, where she works on audits of Chase Devere, Bank of Ireland and Bristol and West.

Kafui works as a trainee officer in the Protocol and Corporate Affairs Unit in Eco Bank Ghana Limited. She was inspired to study accountancy by her father, who is also an accountant.

Paper 1.2
Paper 1.2 winner, with a score of 94%, is Jayne Nesbitt, an accounts trainee with Fisher Phillips chartered accountants in London. Jayne was an actress and singer for six years after graduating from Cambridge University, and appeared in musicals in London’s West End and as a backing singer to popstar Lulu. She decided to make a switch to accountancy and began studying with ACCA to prove herself to potential employers.

Paper 1.3
Paper 1.3 winner, with 96%, is Umer Choudry who studies full-time in Pakistan. Having served in the Pakistan Army, Umer was attracted by the flexibility of ACCA and its open policy. He is looking for work with a big accountancy firm and feels the qualification will give him wide-ranging skills and an edge in a competitive world.

Paper 2.1
The winner of the prize for Paper 2.1 is Rebecca Sheung, who scored 98%. Rebecca works in the auditing department of KPMG Hong Kong where she assists in performing audits and reviews of organisations’ financial statements.

Paper 2.2
Joint prizewinners for Paper 2.2 are Dr Keri Dexter and Maria Saouri who both scored 96%. Keri works as a semi-senior accountant in The Tax Shop in Cheltenham where he provides services for sole traders, partnerships and small limited companies. He holds an MA in music and a PhD in musicology, and decided to pursue a career in accountancy to use the skills he developed during his PhD research.

Maria is a lending centre administrator with Alpha Bank in Cyprus. She chose ACCA, after taking a degree in economics, because she knows it is highly respected. She says the challenge in studying with ACCA is balancing a social life with studying.

Paper 2.3
Paper 2.3 winner, with a score of 97%, is Helen Radcliffe, an accountancy officer with Malvern Hills District Council. Helen works with budget holders and on day-to-day treasury management. She holds a BA Hons in mathematics, and away from accountancy, is a Shiatsu practitioner.

Paper 2.4
Scoring 86%, joint winners for Paper 2.4 are Ann Gearing from the UK and Piotr Rowinski from Poland. Ann is a senior support officer in the finance department of Sussex Police. She decided to pursue a career in accountancy after helping to set up a credit union.

Piotr is a senior associate, working in the assurance and business advisory sector with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Warsaw. He has an MSc in corporate finance and a BSc in international management. Piotr is particularly grateful for the support he receives from PwC.

Paper 2.5
Paper 2.5 prizewinner Rachel Westcott from Arundel in West Sussex scored 95%. Rachel is an accounts and audit senior with Taylor Cocks Chartered Accountants, where she manages a team of five and is also involved in building client relations.

Paper 2.6
The Paper 2.6 winner, with a mark of 88%, is Magdalena Nizik, who is Finance Manager with the General Electric Company in Warsaw, Poland. Magdalena, who began her ACCA studies while with KPMG, finds that she uses the exam knowledge gained through her studies in her everyday work, particularly in reporting and planning.

Paper 3.1
The Paper 3.1 winner, with a score of 81%, is William Lyster. William is an audit senior with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he is involved in the audit of major banks and corporate entities.

Paper 3.2
The winner of the Paper 3.2 prize, with a score of 80%, is Brian Brennan from Athlone in Ireland. Brian hopes to become a professional tax adviser, possibly with his own tax consultancy firm. He is already studying for specialist tax exams.

Paper 3.3
The three joint winners for this paper are Zhao Yu from Singapore, Thomas Sandall from the UK and Ekaterina Zatakavia from Russia, who all scored 83%. Zhao Yu was unable to attend the ceremony due to study commitments for ACCA exams in December. She works as a staff nurse in the National University Hospital in Singapore, and hopes her ACCA studies will enable her to make the switch to accountancy later in her career.

Thomas Sandall works as a business analyst in the retail market risk unit for Barclays Bank in London. His ambition is to be a senior banker or divisional finance director in a major corporation.

Ekaterina Zatakavia is an audit manager with Ernst & Young (CIS) Limited in Moscow. She graduated from the Russian Finance Academy with an honours diploma in world economy, and hopes to become the finance director of a large company or to run her own hotel.

Paper 3.4
Scoring 88%, the Paper 3.4 winner for June 2003 is Jean Cookson, a developer in the financial services department at Bristol and West plc. Jean provides support for financial and compliance databases and hopes that studying with ACCA will enable her to move into accountancy.

Paper 3.5
Paper 3.5 winner is gold medallist Damian Joseph, with a score of 83%.

Paper 3.6
The Paper 3.6 winner is silver medallist Angela Kenney, with a score of 91%.

Paper 3.7
Paper 3.7 prize winner, with a score of 85%, is Velissarios Maratheftis. He works in the accounts section of Depea Investment Bank in Cyprus and holds a BA in business administration as well as an MBA. He hopes to be in a managerial position in a few years time.