In our latest Meet the Team interview, we found out more about Senior Manager Michelle Gaze – a member of our specialist Charities and Academies teams. Michelle loves to coach our trainees and also uses her teaching skills to coach five to nine-year-olds at netball!
How long have you worked at BHP?
14 years this year – I joined after graduating from the University of Sheffield in 2009.
What attracted to you to work for the firm?
It had a great reputation locally and as soon as I had my first interview here it just immediately felt like a place I wanted to work.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
Every day is different – from reviewing accounts for our audit team or preparing accounts and carrying out independent examinations for our smaller charity clients, every day I work on a different type of client. A key part of my role is coaching our trainee staff and giving them the skills to prepare accounts for our clients, which is a part of the job I really enjoy.
How has BHP helped you in your career so far?
After qualifying in the audit and accounts team in 2013, it became apparent that my skill set and passion at work was in charities and accounts preparation. BHP gave me the opportunity to develop a new role for myself and create a charity accounts team and I will be forever grateful for that opportunity. Our team has doubled in size in the last 12 months and we have exciting plans for the future!
What are your key career highlights/achievements?
Qualifying in 2013 will always be a highlight for me. The sense of accomplishment of finishing the ICAEW exams feels like a major milestone, even almost 10 years on! More recently my promotion to Senior Manager is the absolute career highlight for me, it is where I wanted to get to within the firm and the hard work paid off in 2022.
What or who inspires you at work?
The clients I work with inspire me the most, speaking to them about the organisation behind the numbers we see every day and seeing the passion they have for the great work they do and the causes they work so passionately for is really inspiring. Within BHP, Jane Marshall has taught me so much about the intricacies of charity accounts and pushed and supported me to continually improve my knowledge of the SORP and the charity sector to ensure we prepare accounts to the highest standards for our clients. Our Charity Director, Rachel Heath, has also been instrumental in helping me develop the accounts team and has helped me to progress through the firm with her great advice.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about applying for a role at BHP?
I think everyone says this, but go for it, BHP has so many service lines and specialisms, there is something for everyone who is interested in working in financial services.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of work, I can usually be found on or around a netball court. I am the treasurer for a local netball club and one of the team captains. I also coach Bee Netball for 5 – 9 year olds, which has given me an opportunity to pass my love of the sport onto the next generation – I love it! I also enjoy going to the theatre, out for food & drinks and going to concerts. As well as netball, I enjoy watching American football (and yes, I do understand the rules, I had a great teacher in my brother!)
What do you prefer? A TV series or a film? And which genre do you prefer?
A mixture really, I do tend to re-watch TV series that I enjoy over and over again!
If you could host a celebrity dinner, who would you invite?
I probably should say lots of important historical figures, but I’d probably fill the table with netballers so I could talk about netball all night! Top of the list would be Tracey Neville who was Head Coach of the England Team who won the Commonwealth Gold in 2018 – that final is the best game I have ever watched and I would love to know what she said to that team to inspire such a comeback in the last quarter!
What is your favourite type of cuisine and why?
Italian or Greek food is my favourite.
What type of holiday do you prefer? Beach, active or city break?
I like both city breaks and beach holidays. Pre COVID, I went on lots of city breaks and loved learning more about other countries. Now, I think I would settle for a beach holiday in the sun doing absolutely nothing! Barcelona is a great choice where you can do a bit of both.
If you weren’t in your current role, what would be your dream job?
I saw an advert once for a professional tea taster, sounds like an ideal job!
