Wins – Central Finance Support (Michael Doleman’s Area)
• Built strong cross-firm collaboration, becoming trusted partners to Procurement, Credit Control, Billing, Immigration, and more—praised for responsiveness, reliability, and ability to handle complex tasks with minimal guidance.
• Successfully launched and embedded new support functions for UK Immigration billing and payments, supplier due diligence, and live timesheet reporting—quickly transitioning into business-as-usual and easing pressure on front-line teams.
• Delivered high-impact operational support, taking ownership of key processes like WIP reporting, contract uploads, statement runs, billing closures, and admin support—freeing up senior capacity and enabling client-facing teams to focus on delivery.
• Drove efficiency through process improvements, streamlining data-heavy tasks such as due diligence form handling, procurement data reconciliation, and billing accuracy.
• Established dedicated finance support for Immigration, including a new financial infrastructure for government fee payments—ensuring compliance with OISC regulations and delivering a seamless client experience.
• Improved visibility of WIP and timesheet data, supporting fee-earners with regular tracking and live analysis—laying the foundation for a culture shift in productivity management.
• Fostered a high-performing team culture, consistently described as efficient, proactive, and scalable—able to meet rising demand with minimal disruption.
• Maintained a strong focus on continuous improvement, acting on feedback to enhance task tracking, build documentation (SOPs, KPIs), and increase visibility of project pipelines.
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Wins – Internal SSC Finance Support (Mathew Baker’s Area)
• Streamlined quarterly usage data production, improving reporting efficiency for key stakeholders.
• Enhanced SSC cost recovery in FY25 by approximately £3 million, driving greater financial impact.
• Leveraged enhanced financial data to collaborate with operations and increase business value.
• Provided the management team with a broader suite of financial reports, supporting deeper understanding of operational performance.

Wins – QRM
• Successfully designed and launched the SSC QRM function and platform, laying the foundation for quality risk management across service lines.
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Wins – Projects
• Redesigned and streamlined the CT and PT SN Portals, improving usability and efficiency.
• Enhanced the KYC SN Portal, supporting better compliance and user experience.
• Reduced ticket allocation time from 4 days to 2 days, significantly improving turnaround.
• Achieved 100% “Exceeds Expectations” in stakeholder feedback for quality and communication.
• Enabled cross-skilling between Business Analysis and MI resources, increasing flexibility and capability.
• Strengthened cross-business collaboration, including work with the Audit Stream on Smart Documents.
• Delivered a 15% reduction in technology budget through innovation and challenge.
• Invested in team development, supporting Associate Project Manager and Business Analyst apprenticeships.
• Embedded a quality framework that improved project outcomes and fostered a culture of accountability and excellence.
• Partnered with Hubs to visualise and simplify end-to-end processes, unlocking smarter, more streamlined workflows.
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Wins – Management Information (MI)
• Secured a dedicated SQL server for SSC, enhancing data security, scalability, and performance.
• Enabled API access to SNOW, allowing seamless integration, automation, and information sharing across systems.
• Leveraged AI resources to improve development efficiency, reduce errors, and accelerate delivery.
• Enhanced PowerAutomate functionality, enabling more robust workflows beyond SNOW.
• Introduced data dictionaries, improving consistency and clarity in reporting.
• Increased cross-business collaboration on MI development by 25%.
• Revolutionised the Post Implementation Review process, making it more efficient and reducing future development time.
• Supported team development through a Data Analyst apprenticeship.
• Delivered Power BI training across BDO business streams, boosting data literacy and self-service reporting capabilities.

Wins – Accounts Hub
• Launched a new medical accounts preparation service line, with 4 FTE supporting the BSO Ipswich team in preparing accounts for medical practices.
• Celebrated 4 team members becoming fully qualified chartered accountants in FY25: Alex Graham (now with ISQM1), Beth Challinor, Wen Zhou, and David Antubam.
• Established a new team in September 2024 to support service charge accounts for the Crown Estate, a high-profile client—Jen Mason and team received excellent feedback, with plans to grow the team further.
• Achieved strong uptake of the SSC apprenticeship scheme, with team members studying alongside their day-to-day accounting and finance roles.
• Celebrated internal mobility, with team members securing roles across the wider organisation: Joe Baldwin (ISQM1), Alex Graham (ISQM1), Katalin Pongo (BR), and Nick Topping (RAS).
• Looking ahead to FY26, the Accounts Hub is seeing growing demand for end-to-end process ownership and more direct-to-client work.
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Wins – Controls Hub
• Partnered with the Quality and Ethics team to implement new controls around Audit independence—earning fantastic feedback from senior Audit Quality partners.
• Expanded the SSC Controls Hub, originally supporting RAS with 5 FTE, now welcoming its 4th cohort and supporting ISQM1, RAS, Internal Audit, and FS Advisory—including FTSE 100 clients.
• Introduced client-facing work within the Controls team, including walkthroughs, controls testing, and process mapping—delivered both on-site and remotely.
• Extended support to FS Advisory clients, with Connor Helsby, Ben Edwards, and Jay Wood completing client-facing secondments.
• Successfully cross-skilled team members to support client delivery across Deals and CRO—also supporting ACCA studies and sign-off.
• Looking ahead to FY26, the Controls Hub is also seeing increased demand for ownership of end-to-end processes and more client-facing opportunities.
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Wins – BSO Hub
• Joel Reilly and Peter Grech completed a 4-month secondment with the finance team at ASDA’s head office in Leeds, supporting accounting tasks and month-end closures—receiving outstanding feedback from BSO partners for their client-facing contributions.
• Looking ahead to FY26, the BSO Hub is preparing for continued growth, with increasing requests for direct-to-client work and ownership of full processes.
• The SSC BRF Hub passed the ICAEW Audit with flying colours, earning fantastic feedback from Chris Simpson, Matthew Chadwick, and Tim Betts.

Wins – Audit Hub
• Successfully ran six Audit pilots throughout the year, all of which are expected to be signed off as new service lines for FY26.
• Achieved efficiency gains that now enable a reduction in pricing for FY26, delivering greater value to the business.
• Enhanced the Hedgebook and valuation offering through close collaboration with the BDO Quants and Valuations team.
• The AC team secured the LAG International Confirmation work—a significant win, as this had never previously been awarded to the SSC.
• Embedded a new SOC report service line within AC, which has already delivered high volume and strong chargeability.
• Initiated Audit entity-facing work within AC, with three successful pilots completed for Scotland, North West, and NRES regions.

Wins – ASH Hub
• Achieved a 50% reduction in average handling time (AHT) across multiple services, significantly enhancing performance against accreditation benchmarks.
• Improved Service Level Agreement (SLA) turnaround times by 24 hours, driven by AHT enhancements and process efficiencies.
• Introduced Partnership work via Contract Express, generating 8% more work in FY25 compared to FY24.
• Enhanced the Group Review process within the External File Review Service, resulting in a 35% increase in work volume year-on-year.
• Developed new MI dashboards for utilisation tracking, enabling daily workload visibility by person and time—providing a clear view of hub utilisation and downtime.

Wins KYC |Review
• Completed Experienced Quality Assurance (E-QA) checks for 85% of the team. This process ensures experienced reviewers—who operate independently of standard QA—maintain high-quality standards. 63% passed the E-QA checks, demonstrating strong consistency and capability across the team.
• Collaborated with the product development team to build new features in ServiceNow, enhancing MI collation. These include review status tracking and process number tagging, making it easier to locate and prioritise cases.
• Successfully completed the MLR “No to Yes” project, clearing a backlog of 641 SNOW tickets.
• Fostered a culture of increased recognition and celebration, boosting team morale and a shared sense of achievement.
Wins – People Spotlight: KYC Review Team
• Patrycja Skiert consistently exceeds daily review targets and handles complex cases with expertise. She plays a key role in supporting junior QA, contributes to Experienced QA (E-QA), and supports leadership projects like the MLR ‘No to Yes’ initiative.
• Jake Owen joined as a temp in September 2024 and quickly became a permanent team member. He progressed rapidly to E-QA with a 100% pass rate and now mentors new starters as a buddy, showing strong potential for a future Senior Assistant role.
• Andrew Houghton brings a positive, proactive attitude and independently manages workflow. Already taking on Senior Assistant-level responsibilities, he’s also upskilling in SDD, demonstrating commitment to growth and development.

Wins – Conflicts Team
• Launched the Conflict Centre of Excellence, enhancing support for confirming audit independence during tenders. Following its success with select Audit workstreams, the process will be rolled out more widely via a phased approach.
• Completed a highly efficient Review Cycle in EMS, verifying 271 trees. This cycle was notably smoother and faster, thanks to lessons learned from previous reviews and the team’s continued focus on improvement.
• Implemented a leadership restructure, creating secondment opportunities that enabled internal talent to step up and grow—highlighting the depth of capability within the compliance teams.
• Achieved successful external recruitment, with new team members quickly adapting to BDO’s culture and delivering high QA scores and productivity, contributing meaningfully to team success.

HR
Wins – Early in Careers
• Supported the recruitment of the September 2025 cohort, organising assessment centres for approximately 1,600 candidates.
• Successfully onboarded 655 candidates over a six-week period in August and September.
• Celebrated four team promotions into the wider business over the past 12 months.
• Contributed to the implementation of the new Eli system, supporting the project team through testing to ensure a smooth rollout.
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Wins – Experienced Hire
• Fully established onboarding process since transitioning from HRS in April 2024, achieving a 95% SLA turnaround within 48 hours.
• Enabled cross-skilling across recruitment and onboarding, enhancing the candidate experience through a seamless end-to-end journey.
• Celebrated three team promotions into the wider business over the past year.
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Wins – Learning & Development
• Successfully set up all L&D activities for the September graduate cohort (655 candidates), including course enrolments, exam marking, resits, deferral requests, and study leave coordination.
• Took on two new service lines—Tax and Allyship—supporting course setup, facilitation, attendance tracking, and stakeholder engagement.
• Celebrated two team promotions over the past 12 months.

Wins – Travel Team
• Completed 8,594 tickets during the financial year, demonstrating strong operational delivery and responsiveness.
• Recognised for their contribution to BDO’s sustainability efforts, with the firm receiving a Highly Commended award for its Travel Programme—marking the first time BDO has been formally acknowledged for initiatives to reduce its travel carbon footprint.

Wins – Events team

• Implemented of Teams task planner to track team capacity and the project plan embedding to track event action timelines
• Developed Project Blake alongside MSC to enhance in-person events support, complementing the embedded webinar support established since 2020