The turnaround
Unsure about her choice of maths and eager to join the world of work, Lucy McWalters CA quit university to join the EY apprenticeship scheme. Six years on she’s still with the Big Four firm and more convinced than ever that she’s made the right move
Words: Cherry Casey
The turnaround
Unsure about her choice of maths and eager to join the world of work, Lucy McWalters CA quit university to join the EY apprenticeship scheme. Six years on she’s still with the Big Four firm and more convinced than ever that she’s made the right move
Words: Cherry Casey
When Lucy McWalters CA, Executive, Restructuring, at EY-Parthenon, was at school, the question posed to the more academic kids wasn’t, “Do you want to go to university?”, but, “What do you want to study when you get there?”
McWalters was good with numbers and enjoyed problem-solving, so opted for maths. “But I didn’t really want to go to uni,” she says, “and the whole time I was there I thought, ‘I’m not sure I’m going to see this through. It’s not for me.’” This was an incredibly stressful time, she says, in part through her reluctance to “admit failure”.
Around a year into her degree, McWalters took the decision to walk away. Her next step was to find a job. Accountancy had cropped up as a potential career while at school, but a maths teacher’s offhand comment that she’d likely find it “boring” was enough to bat it away. But this time around, a family friend who worked in the profession met with McWalters and explained that it wasn’t simply “people doing the tax returns”, she says. “[I got the feeling] this was something I could be interested in.”
From there McWalters learned about ICAS, the Big Four and the apprenticeship route with EY, which she decided to pursue. On the one hand, it made perfect sense as it wasn’t “sitting in a lecture hall” but on-the-job learning – with emphasis on the word ‘job’, meaning she’d be receiving a wage.
Her one concern was the validity of her final qualification. But having learnt her apprenticeship resulted in the same CA qualification as the graduate scheme, she was sold. “I think that’s something that ICAS needs to shout about,” she adds, given that when she was at school, knowledge of apprenticeships was fairly low. “It tended to be focused around trades,” she says, and aimed primarily towards the boys.
Getting involved
McWalters joined the EY apprenticeship scheme in September 2019, and while the national lockdown six months later hindered her getting to know others in her cohort, she credits a great relationship with one of the senior managers in Glasgow as imbuing her with the confidence to get stuck in.
“She said, ‘Don’t be scared to ask the daft questions,’” says McWalters. “As an apprentice, your initial expected knowledge level is essentially nothing, so it’s more about getting involved and asking questions so you can learn from those around you. That took some pressure away. [The more I spoke up], the more people respected that I was contributing. Even if what I said wasn’t right, they could then explain, ‘No, but that was a good idea’.”
It was hard to adjust to, but exciting, she says, adding that this reassurance from above was especially helpful when it came to balancing both work and study.
“The partner in charge of our team took us aside and explained that they were investing in us, and the most important thing we could do over the next five years was pass the exams,” she says. “So, if in the lead-up we needed more study leave, or for our workload to be reduced, then we just needed to let them know, because they wanted us to do our best.”
“The partner in charge of our team took us aside and explained that they were investing in us, and the most important thing we could do over the next five years was pass the exams”
This hit home with McWalters: she was part of a team that wanted her to do well. It gave her extra incentive to “buckle down… and uphold my end of the bargain”.
When McWalters took her exams – under the old delivery system, before ICAS built in far more flexibility – they were typically done in a fixed six-week period, for which she was advised just to put everything else on hold: “I am someone who often enjoys a high-stress environment so could have been that person who says, ‘Yeah, I’ll take more on’, but it’s about being strict with yourself and logging off at five o’clock to go and study.”
McWalters’ approach evidently worked and she qualified in 2024, after which she was promoted to Executive. Of her role today, she explains that her team “deals with companies that primarily require support due to either financial struggles or changes within their business”.
In the early days of her role, McWalters could find herself in a room speaking with a large group of middle-aged men. “I was standing there thinking they’re not going to listen to me, but again you gain a lot of confidence and learn so much on your feet from watching others and just getting stuck in.” And when the job is done and everything goes well, she says, “they’re often really grateful because we’ve made a difference”.
When livelihoods are on the brink, emotions can run high, which is one reason why McWalters isn’t too concerned that AI is coming for the entire restructuring division quite yet. “If someone is distressed or worried about their business, the most important thing they are often looking for is someone to talk to who they can trust and rely on,” she says. “And naturally they prefer speaking to humans more. Restructuring is definitely a very people-based industry.”
That’s not to say the advancement of tech doesn’t have its place, “and we’re certainly being introduced to, and encouraged to use, lots of really useful AI tools for more time-consuming tasks. This has been helpful as it frees us up as a team to focus on the more personal and key face-to-face interactions.”
Interactions which are key in more ways than one, with McWalters stressing the importance of taking advantage of professional communities, such as the Scottish arm of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation of which she’s a member.
While it may be natural to wonder whether such groups truly make a difference, McWalters is adamant that they do: “There’s lots of different people to bounce off and I’ve learned networking is really key to wherever you want to go, even if you don’t really know where that is yet.”
In terms of her own path, McWalters has no plans to leave restructuring for the foreseeable, saying that even if she stays in the area “for years and years”, she can’t imagine tiring of it. “You’re dealing with so many different things and so many different industries,” she says.
Which is why, if she was to start recruiting more people from more areas into the profession, she’d start here. “Accountancy can get a bad rap,” she says, “but my job is not how you’d envisage a standard accountant, and maybe it’s about getting that message out there more. That there are so many different routes that the CA can take you.”
Explore the different routes to becoming a CA
Learn more about National Apprenticeship Week
Read more in our Championing Unique Perspectives series
When Lucy McWalters CA, Executive, Restructuring, at EY-Parthenon, was at school, the question posed to the more academic kids wasn’t, “Do you want to go to university?”, but, “What do you want to study when you get there?”
McWalters was good with numbers and enjoyed problem-solving, so opted for maths. “But I didn’t really want to go to uni,” she says, “and the whole time I was there I thought, ‘I’m not sure I’m going to see this through. It’s not for me.’” This was an incredibly stressful time, she says, in part through her reluctance to “admit failure”.
Around a year into her degree, McWalters took the decision to walk away. Her next step was to find a job. Accountancy had cropped up as a potential career while at school, but a maths teacher’s offhand comment that she’d likely find it “boring” was enough to bat it away. But this time around, a family friend who worked in the profession met with McWalters and explained that it wasn’t simply “people doing the tax returns”, she says. “[I got the feeling] this was something I could be interested in.”
From there McWalters learned about ICAS, the Big Four and the apprenticeship route with EY, which she decided to pursue. On the one hand, it made perfect sense as it wasn’t “sitting in a lecture hall” but on-the-job learning – with emphasis on the word ‘job’, meaning she’d be receiving a wage.
Her one concern was the validity of her final qualification. But having learnt her apprenticeship resulted in the same CA qualification as the graduate scheme, she was sold. “I think that’s something that ICAS needs to shout about,” she adds, given that when she was at school, knowledge of apprenticeships was fairly low. “It tended to be focused around trades,” she says, and aimed primarily towards the boys.
Getting involved
McWalters joined the EY apprenticeship scheme in September 2019, and while the national lockdown six months later hindered her getting to know others in her cohort, she credits a great relationship with one of the senior managers in Glasgow as imbuing her with the confidence to get stuck in.
“She said, ‘Don’t be scared to ask the daft questions,’” says McWalters. “As an apprentice, your initial expected knowledge level is essentially nothing, so it’s more about getting involved and asking questions so you can learn from those around you. That took some pressure away. [The more I spoke up], the more people respected that I was contributing. Even if what I said wasn’t right, they could then explain, ‘No, but that was a good idea’.”
It was hard to adjust to, but exciting, she says, adding that this reassurance from above was especially helpful when it came to balancing both work and study.
“The partner in charge of our team took us aside and explained that they were investing in us, and the most important thing we could do over the next five years was pass the exams,” she says. “So, if in the lead-up we needed more study leave, or for our workload to be reduced, then we just needed to let them know, because they wanted us to do our best.”
“The partner in charge of our team took us aside and explained that they were investing in us, and the most important thing we could do over the next five years was pass the exams”
This hit home with McWalters: she was part of a team that wanted her to do well. It gave her extra incentive to “buckle down… and uphold my end of the bargain”.
When McWalters took her exams – under the old delivery system, before ICAS built in far more flexibility – they were typically done in a fixed six-week period, for which she was advised just to put everything else on hold: “I am someone who often enjoys a high-stress environment so could have been that person who says, ‘Yeah, I’ll take more on’, but it’s about being strict with yourself and logging off at five o’clock to go and study.”
McWalters’ approach evidently worked and she qualified in 2024, after which she was promoted to Executive. Of her role today, she explains that her team “deals with companies that primarily require support due to either financial struggles or changes within their business”.
In the early days of her role, McWalters could find herself in a room speaking with a large group of middle-aged men. “I was standing there thinking they’re not going to listen to me, but again you gain a lot of confidence and learn so much on your feet from watching others and just getting stuck in.” And when the job is done and everything goes well, she says, “they’re often really grateful because we’ve made a difference”.
When livelihoods are on the brink, emotions can run high, which is one reason why McWalters isn’t too concerned that AI is coming for the entire restructuring division quite yet. “If someone is distressed or worried about their business, the most important thing they are often looking for is someone to talk to who they can trust and rely on,” she says. “And naturally they prefer speaking to humans more. Restructuring is definitely a very people-based industry.”
That’s not to say the advancement of tech doesn’t have its place, “and we’re certainly being introduced to, and encouraged to use, lots of really useful AI tools for more time-consuming tasks. This has been helpful as it frees us up as a team to focus on the more personal and key face-to-face interactions.”
Interactions which are key in more ways than one, with McWalters stressing the importance of taking advantage of professional communities, such as the Scottish arm of the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation of which she’s a member.
While it may be natural to wonder whether such groups truly make a difference, McWalters is adamant that they do: “There’s lots of different people to bounce off and I’ve learned networking is really key to wherever you want to go, even if you don’t really know where that is yet.”
In terms of her own path, McWalters has no plans to leave restructuring for the foreseeable, saying that even if she stays in the area “for years and years”, she can’t imagine tiring of it. “You’re dealing with so many different things and so many different industries,” she says.
Which is why, if she was to start recruiting more people from more areas into the profession, she’d start here. “Accountancy can get a bad rap,” she says, “but my job is not how you’d envisage a standard accountant, and maybe it’s about getting that message out there more. That there are so many different routes that the CA can take you.”
Explore the different routes to becoming a CA
Learn more about National Apprenticeship Week
Read more in our Championing Unique Perspectives series
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