Graduate voted most likely to rise to top

Winner: Catherine Ellis

A recent graduate of the University of Portsmouth Business School has won a national professional award as ‘The One to Watch’.

Catherine Ellis, 25, was voted winner at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) Company Secretaries Awards.

The award recognises recent achievement and future potential in those in the early stages of their careers. The judges looked at the impact candidates had in managing tasks and activities and contributing to overall performance, and the likelihood that each candidate was destined to be a top company secretary.

Catherine said: “It was a great sense of achievement winning the award and a professional accolade. More than anything it means I’ve been doing my job right.

“My employer is delighted too, and thinks it’s a great achievement – it was my employer who nominated me for the award.”

Catherine embarked on her career as a company secretary while writing her dissertation in her final year at university.

She said: “The best aspects of the job include all the project work that you get involved in – you go to meetings and hear what all the issues are affecting the business. Anything that is of sensitive nature often goes through the company secretary so you get to see a lot of interesting items. No two days are ever the same and the workload is varied.

“Company secretaries are independent and are there to advise and steer the chairman and other board members on good governance. That is the main definition, but in industry, different markets and different types of companies require different things.”

Catherine obtained her Grad.ICSA qualification upon graduating from the University of Portsmouth’s School of Law with her Master’s in LLM Corporate Governance and Commercial Law in 2010. She had earned her LLB Law with Business degree in 2008.

She said: “While writing my dissertation I started working for Computershare Investor Services plc in their company secretarial services department as an administrator. I then was offered a permanent position there and started working fulltime two weeks after handing in my dissertation. After 18 months I then moved to work for Amlin plc as a Company Secretarial Assistant, where I still work.”