Andrew has recently retired from his role as Director of Finance at the University of Huddersfield, which involved strategic and business planning, providing financial advice, financial management and reporting, managing risk and liaising with internal and external audit and ensuring the University is financially sustainable and obtains value for money.
Andrew qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Manchester Office of Grant Thornton and in 1980 he joined the Huddersfield Office of regional practice, Revell Ward, as Training Manager. He became their youngest partner in 1982 at the age of 28. He became Managing Partner before the firm merged with the international practice of Mazars and he was elected to the Governance Council of the UK firm for 2 years. Andrew was Deputy Managing Partner of the Northern Region when he left the firm to join the University in 2001.
Throughout his career Andrew has had a commitment to education, taking governance roles at junior, secondary and FE colleges in the local area. Ultimately he was Chair of the Audit Committee and Vice-Chair of the University Council from 1994 – 2000.
Andrew is the current Chair of Wakefield College, and is a past Chair of the British Universities Finance Directors’ Group. He is also a Board member of the Higher Education Statistics Agency Ltd (and chairs its Audit Committee) and Wakefield District Housing (where he chairs the Investment and Funding Committee).
Huddersfield was awarded Outstanding Finance Team of the Year at the 2015 Times Higher Leadership and Management Awards and was shortlisted for Outstanding Financial Performance in the 2018 Awards. Andrew was awarded UK FD of the Year (Public and Voluntary Sector) at the 2016 Business Finance Awards.
Andrew was invited to become a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute in 2017.
He was awarded an OBE for services to accounting and the community in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2015.