A recent graduate from Sandbach has been awarded a prestigious prize by a fund set up to support the next generation of accountants in Manchester, which can trace its history back more than 150 years.
Eve Moores, who recently completed a BA Econ in accounting and finance at Alliance Manchester Business School, was presented with the David Illingworth Memorial Prize by MSCA Legacy this summer in recognition of research she undertook as part of her degree.
MSCA Legacy was set up in 2023 to distribute the funds previously held by the Manchester Society of Chartered Accountants, a body that was founded in 1870 but whose members last year voted to stop being an independent organisation and become a network within the wider Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
The David Illingworth Memorial Prize is named in honour of the late former society and institute national president. It was awarded to Ms Moores in recognition of her dissertation analysing the challenges facing the UK’s rail operating companies and the market in which they operate.
She concluded that nationalisation would achieve the best outcome.
She said: “I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to complete my dissertation as it allowed me to integrate my accounting skills with a highly relevant social and economic challenge.
“Receiving the David Illingworth Memorial Prize for my project has been an incredible honour, and I look forward to engaging with MSCA Legacy in the future.”
Having completed her degree, Ms Moores has now secured a position as an audit associate on the graduate scheme at the “big four” accountancy firm PwC. She will begin her new role at the firm’s Manchester office in September.
Alistair Hollows, chair of MSCA Legacy, said: “I would like to congratulate Eve on a thoroughly researched, thought-provoking and compellingly argued piece of work.
“Her dissertation is a great demonstration of how the skills that underpin the accountancy profession can be applied to analyse, and develop solutions to, the real-world problems holding back growth in our economy.
“I wish her all the very best in her career and am sure she will be a real credit to her new employers.”
Pictured: From left, Mr Hollows, Ms Moores and Prof Chris Humphrey, professor of accounting at Alliance Manchester Business School.
