People Profiles: Chris

Chris joined in 1998, training as an ACA before moving to industry. He returned as a Manager in our Norwich office in 2008.

I'd worked in banking for nine years before deciding to switch career, and PwC was highly open and receptive about taking on a more mature trainee. They recognise here that there are certain life experiences and transferable skills you can bring with you if you've worked in a different environment.

After qualifying, I spent a number of years working in industry - but I missed the experience of working on a much broader range of clients and issues, as well as the technical challenges that are regularly presented in practice.

Our clients in Norwich include many growing and ambitious companies. They rely on our advice and experience to help them grow and create strategies that add value to their business - which in turn adds variety and enjoyment to my job, usually in different ways each day. There's also a sense of satisfaction that comes from solving complex problems for your clients - especially as it usually means learning something yourself that will be useful at a later date or can help colleagues facing the same issues.

Clients need our support on how to take advantage of opportunities in their markets, that also provides opportunities to sell in other PwC services - and that business development aspect of the job is increasingly important. That means the firm looks out for people who can do much more than simply deliver a first-class service - they also need to be commercial in their outlook, keeping up with changes in the local and national economy, and anticipating how those changes might impact on client needs.

As a regional office, we have to maintain a high profile in our business community - networking at seminars or conferences and taking advantage of speaking opportunities, to position ourselves as authorities in everything we do. Those sorts of events are a pleasant add-on to the job - and it's good that a global organisation like PwC can also develop an enviable reputation as a local firm.

The culture is one of professionalism and total support - there are so many resources at your disposal, from the insight of experienced colleagues to vast amounts of stored knowledge and intelligence. And with offices around the world, there would never be an occasion when you couldn't find someone to respond to the most obscure technical query. In Norwich, it's unlikely that I'd need to research how, say, the Japanese would treat a certain transaction - but it's good to know that should the occasion arise, PwC people in Tokyo would be there to help out.