Sarah Churchman

I’d always aspired to be a solicitor and chose to study law, but I hated the course and ended up taking a gap year while I decided what career path to take. I first joined the accountancy firm Coopers and Lybrand as a secretary in 1984, and was then invited to return in 1987 to work for my former boss in human resources. I seized the opportunity to do my IPM exams – which the firm sponsored – and became a personnel administrator, growing new divisions within the regional offices before returning to the London HQ to specialise.