A hospitality professional who rose to the rank of assistant manager at one of the UK’s most popular travel brands has left the world of hospitality to chase her accountancy-based dream.
Cecilia Cairnduff’s passion for numbers and figures led her to start a different professional route after nearly a decade in the café and spa at Center Parc’s Whinfell Forest complex, where she worked her way to the position of assistant manager.
She recently started as a Trainee Chartered Accountant with Cumbria-based Saint & Co Chartered Accountants and is studying towards her Level 7 ACA accountancy qualification.
Cecilia Cairnduff with Training Partner, Sophie Graham
Wanting a new challenge, Cecilia walked past Saint & Co’s Penrith office on her way to taking her dogs to the vets. She then enquired at the company about any positions to develop her interest in working with numbers.
She said: “I was in hospitality for so long and the thing I really enjoyed about the role was the bookkeeping aspect and putting figures in the reports, and that’s when I realised I wanted to do more around numbers and finances.
“When I enquired at Saint & Co and found there was an opportunity as a Trainee Chartered Accountant, I jumped at the chance even though I knew it was quite a departure from what I had been doing for nearly 10 years.
“I loved my time at Center Parcs and got to know so many people, but I like new challenges and going into accountancy is going to provide a chance to learn something very new and develop my professional and personal skills.
“I’m really excited to be working at Saint & Co and working towards my qualifications, and I want to keep progressing as far as I can within accountancy with the excellent support of the team here.”
Cecilia moved to Carlisle from her native Hong Kong to study Tourism at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, and started working at Center Parcs after a brief stint with McDonald’s.
Starting as a casual shift worker and progressing to the role of assistant manager, Cecilia became a popular member of the team at Whinfell.
She is now looking forward to using the customer service skills she honed in a new sector.
“Everybody is really friendly and helpful at Saint & Co, and they are always happy to answer any questions I have,” Cecilia said.
“They are a really caring bunch who are interested in the team personally, not just about how good they are at work, and that has really been a big part of me settling in so quickly.
“Because of this, I am motivated coming into work and my long-term goal is to remain here and repay the faith the team have already shown in me. But first, the short-term goal is to pass my course which consists of 15 exams over the next three years.”
Cecilia is based at Saint & Co’s head office on Carlisle’s Rosehill Industrial Estate. The firm also has bases in Ambleside, Cockermouth, Penrith, Wigton and Millom across Cumbria, and in Annan and Dumfries in the south of Scotland.
