Helen Riley

During my A-levels I took part in Young Enterprise and was the winner of the highest exam mark trophy. In the first year Young Enterprise in North Wales introduced a business aptitude exam which provided a business scenario which I had to find solutions to problems and demonstrate general business knowledge.  As this was the only trophy I’d ever won in school, I decided I was not going to be a track and field star, so business and finance were the right career choice for me.

I moved to Nottingham to read for a degree in Accounting & Finance & Business Law I then moved back home to North Wales to finish the degree at NEWI which was then part of Bangor University. I started my ACCA training with a small firm of accountants in Wrexham then moving to an agricultural trailer manufacturer in Corwen to help implement a new ERP system and design the accounting processes within the project team.

After finishing my exams and qualifying as ACCA in 2009 I started working for a national commercial cleaning franchisor as the company accountant and was promoted to Finance Director 3 years later. I absolutely loved the role which was varied and interesting and was a chance to put all my other business skills in to practice developing IT, HR sales and marketing. 

During this role I took a 2 month break to travel around the word and get married in New Zealand to my husband Paul as we wanted to combine our love of travelling into our wedding visiting 7 countries along the way. It was during the process of a succession planning at this role that I realised how much I enjoyed Corporate Finance and how much my experience as a Finance Director aligned with a role in Corporate Finance: leading  to me to joining CBSL Accountants on 2023.

I now live in lovely north Shropshire with my husband and cheeky Jack Russel – Treacle who comes travelling with us around the UK in our Mink sports camper whenever we get the chance.

Walking, hiking and cold-water dipping are my absolute favourite things to do and you will find me swimming in waterfall pools in Yorkshire or the Lake District at the weekend.