MCASS Path to Leadership

Join us for our Path to Leadership event featuring a distinguished panel of senior leaders from both practice and industry. This event offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights into their career journeys and the pivotal steps they took to reach their positions today. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions directly to the panel, which will be followed by a networking session providing an excellent opportunity to connect with peers and senior finance professionals. Refreshments will be provided free of charge for all attendees.

Whether you’ve got your eyes on the top of the profession or you're looking to further develop you're career post qualification, the insights from our panel will show you the possibilities out there and some useful advice on how to excel and set yourself apart from the crowd.

Our panellists

Meet our panellists. We will be announcing more soon! Our panel comprises a variety of senior finance professionals working in both practice and industry across a number of roles/specialism.

Schedule for the Event

Meet Our Panellists

Luke Greasley

M&A Lead

Lad Bible

As M&A Lead at LADbible, Luke manages the M&A pipeline while supporting the broader business strategy and investor relations. His role also includes assisting both the US team and the associate business, Pubity Group on financial strategy. Prior to this role, Luke managed the technical finance team through the IPO process. Prior to LADbible, Luke worked in external audit with both PwC and Beever and Struthers.

Tehseen Ali

Partner (Audit)

EY

Tehseen Ali (Tes) is an Audit Partner at EY in Manchester with over 25 years of experience. Specializing in the Private Mid-Market, he supports fast-growing, entrepreneurial businesses across various sectors, including technology, manufacturing, and transport. Tes is known for building trust with clients by understanding their businesses in depth and providing clear, informed judgments in complex situations. He notably listed a global materials technology business on the NYSE and has extensive knowledge of IFRS and UK GAAP standards, honed further during his time as a Financial Controller at a FTSE 250 company.

As a Partner, Tes is involved in business operations, serves on the North Board, and is a member of the National Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion council for EY UK Assurance. He has a diverse background, having worked in a dot-com start-up and managed an Enterprise-Rent-A-Car branch before joining EY in 2002. A second-generation immigrant from a working-class family in the NW, Tes values strong personal and professional relationships. Outside work, he's a devoted family man, enjoys fitness, and is an active Board Member at pro-Manchester. He has also served as a school governor in Bury.

Hayley Brightmore-Cox

Partner (Transaction Services)

Saffery

Hayley is head of the Saffery North West Transaction Services Team and has considerable experience in advising clients on a range of transaction support and business advisory assignments.

She has worked with both private and listed entities in a multitude of sectors, from pre-profit stage to those generating revenue of over £500 million, providing a range of services including vendor due diligence, vendor assist, buy-side due diligence and associated services such as advice around carve-outs, net working capital, locked boxes and completion accounts reviews.

Hayley has worked with a wide range of private equity houses, banks, debt funds and corporate clients across a range of sectors. Hayley joined Saffery after founding and leading Knight Transaction Services, a boutique transaction services firm, subsequently bought by K3 Capital Plc. She has also held previous roles at RSM, Mazars and Grant Thornton.

Fiona Cresswell

Partner (Tax)

Evelyn Partners

Fiona trained with a small firm and joined Haines Watts in 1999. She has 30 years experience in advising family business owners over their business lifecycle from start up to exit. Having recently sold her own business to Evelyn Partners (soon to be S&W), Fiona has seen life on the other side which has been an interesting journey.

As a qualified tax adviser Fiona also work with high net worth individuals and offers bespoke services to directors/shareholders as their businesses develop, particularly in areas of process improvement, succession planning and inheritance tax planning.

Fiona has three children, is a long standing Manchester City season ticket holder and loves to travel.

Amelia MacPherson

Director (Accounting and Financial Reporting)

RSM

Amelia MacPherson is a consulting director, leading the north-west accounting and financial reporting team, which has a key focus on supporting finance functions. Her team provides support on a wide range of accounting issues, from compliance and financial statement preparation to audit support, advisory services and providing staff on secondment to clients.

Amelia started her career in audit, where she qualified as a chartered accountant as a member of the ICAEW. She spent seven years in audit before deciding to try a role in industry, joining the group reporting team at M&S.

Working at M&S provided Amelia with some incredible experiences, including reporting to the board of a FTSE 100 company and being on the other side of the audit process. However, she missed working with and advising multiple businesses and the variety that working in practice offers. She came to RSM in 2019 with a focus on building the North West financial reporting and advisory offering.

“My main driver is making a difference, whether that be to our clients, our staff or the community. I love using my skillset to help resolve an issue or support someone with something they are having difficulty with. My ethos is – if there is something within my power or capability that I can do to help improve a situation, then I want to do it.”

Life outside of work Amelia lives in Manchester with her husband and two young children. During the time she gets to herself, she enjoys both going to the theatre and performing in an amateur theatre group. She is also a trustee of two charities: a community hall in Lancashire and the Blackpool Grand Theatre.

Alex Marsh

Chair of the Board

Salad Money

Alex is a highly experienced executive and board advisor in banking, payments, and fintech. He is Chair of Salad Money, an award-winning Open Banking-powered lender providing fair and affordable credit, and a Non-Executive Director at the Centre for Finance Innovation & Technology (CFIT), the UK Government-backed body tasked with accelerating financial innovation.

Previously, he was CFO and later CEO of Klarna in the UK, where he scaled the business to over 18 million consumers while navigating complex regulatory change. Prior to that, he held leadership roles at Close Brothers Group plc and trained as a chartered accountant at PwC, working across London and Sydney.

A passionate advocate for social impact, Alex co-founded Charterpath, a UK charity inspiring finance professionals to volunteer their skills. He also serves as a trustee, governor, and advisor to several charities and volunteer initiatives.

Alice Clementi

Chief Executive Officer

Charterpath

Alice is the CEO of Charterpath, a charity she co-founded in 2020 to inspire more finance professionals to volunteer. Today, Charterpath is the fastest-growing community of volunteers with financial skills, contributing 20,000+ pro bono hours to the charity sector.

After qualifying as a chartered accountant at PwC, Alice held senior roles across Finance, Strategy, and Risk at Close Brothers Group plc. In 2016, she became the Bank’s youngest-ever Credit Risk Director, leading a team of 40 in its premium finance lending business. She later joined the private bank C. Hoare & Co. in 2019 as Head of Credit before establishing her own advisory business, allowing her to work flexibly while raising two young children.

Alongside her career, Alice has been a regular and committed volunteer, most recently serving as Chair of Trustees for Operation Reach and as a school governor for a leading girls' school.