Employees’ testimonials

I joined Cumbrian Seafoods in 2004 after graduating from Lancaster University with a degree in Accounting and Finance. Cumbrian Seafoods operate a year-round Graduate Recruitment Scheme and are keen to give graduates an opportunity at building a career. Aside from Cumbrian Seafoods being a prominent and large local firm, my main motivations for joining this company were the training and personal development opportunities that it offered.

My first role was in the finance office was working on the sales ledger. This involved invoicing all our customers and helped me gain an insight into how the business operates. As an Accounting and Finance graduate, the next step in my career was to achieve a Chartered Accounting qualification, and the company and I agreed that I should begin a 3-year course with CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). This course comprises 15 exams and has a requirement of gaining 3 years practical experience in an accounting environment. The company covered the cost of books and examinations and encourages a mentor system to assist with studying and training.

After nine months on the sales ledger, I became Management Accountant at our Whitehaven factory. Cumbrian Seafoods encourages internal promotion and I took the chance of managing a small accounts team which covered all the functions of an accounting department. This enabled me to learn and develop a wide range of skills and knowledge, and put what I was studying into practice. The practical experience I was gaining also improved my exam performance. My main role was preparation of the weekly profit and loss account and of the monthly management accounts. Both require a lot of detailed work and help get you involved in the running of the business.

I spent almost a year and a half at Whitehaven when the position of Finance Manager arose internally at our Grants Smoked Salmon factory in Maryport. The main requirements of this role were preparation of monthly management accounts and overseeing and supporting the finance team. I was able to build upon what I had learned at Whitehaven and apply those techniques to a larger business with three-times the sales turnover. It was a wide-varied job with many tasks to juggle at once, but with quick learning and hard work I was able to succeed in this role.

Seven months later, I have passed all of my CIMA exams and only have a few months to go until I will have enough relevant practical experience to be certified as a Chartered Accountant. In light of this, Cumbrian Seafoods are keen to stretch me and I now work on the main site assisting with accounting for the Group as a whole and have responsibility for a range of finance projects. I will also be preparing monthly accounts for our new factory at Seaham and continuing my development within the department which should help me improve and succeed.