South West London Area Chair reflects on opportunities

Annie Lee, Chair of the South West London Area Society, reflects on recent months and the opportunities arising from this period.

July 2020

The months of lockdown and working from home have flown by for me and adjusting to the new norm has had its challenges. However on the flip side, there have been some positives coming out from it all.

Reflecting on the positives from lockdown

We have had more time to reflect and think about ourselves, our families and neighbours instead of spending time commuting every day and constantly facing social and work pressures by trying to fill up our diaries.

I have rediscovered the simple pleasures in life, for example playing board games with the family, discovering TikToK with kids and exploring our neighbour area during our family walks.

For many, clapping in the streets on a Thursday evening was the social event of the week. The situation has forced people together. We found ourselves standing outside and having a chat and just talk about stuff.

With planes grounded the sky is bluer and cloudless. Air is fresher and cleaner and carbon emission has fallen. Bike sales have rocketed as more people take up cycling. Many are taking up more exercise and improving our overall health.

We can spare some time to self learn and develop our knowledge and skills. I have definitely signed to more webinars provided by ICAEW and the London area societies over the lockdown period.

Moving online

As our lives and work have moved online, so has ICAEW events and learning. I have been impressed with the variety of webinars and online discussion available to our members. Many courses have been discounted for the benefit of our members in the London area and 75% member discount given on a range of CPD virtual learning. For example, the Academy of Professional Development is offering in July virtual classrooms at 75% off for a limited time only. Topics include – Practical business valuation on 9 July, Finance business partnering on 14 July and other topics.

In addition to the learning support, ICAEW has a dedicated Coronavirus (COVID-19) hub, collating information and resources from across the institute and beyond. It also looked at the global recovery and brought us news on the market response to the crisis, the impacts of that response and the repercussions around the world.

From an audit point of view, I have the resource from the audit faculty extremely intuitive and informative for our work on going concern and post balance sheet events review across the industry sectors.

I am very excited to announce our virtual meeting for South West London area on 23 July with West London area society and CABA on “Develop your personal brand".

On 25 August, another live webinar is organised with Mark Hawkins from PK Wealth on “Family wealth and cash flow in times of crisis”.

A lot of support and guidance are available to help you work effectively and nurture and develop throughout the crisis. It is time to grasp the opportunity and use the excellent resources on offer.