FROM BPP HOUSE
WRITTEN BY ANDY ROGERS

When I was asked to write this article, a few questions came to mind - why would anyone be interested in my life and what's more want to read about it! Then I realised that seeing her son in print would make my mum's year so if nobody reads this in the Bristol area, you can bet your life that everyone in West Sussex will have seen it by now.


I should perhaps start by explaining how I came to work at BPP. It was a circuitous route that started in the early 1990's when I was forced to accept that I would not be the next Michael Jordan, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Botham or Seve Ballesteros (childhood heroes in descending order). This came as a big disappointment as I had not really considered a plan B after professional sport, ludicrous in hindsight given an obvious lack of talent.

As I neared the end of my degree course, I was looking, in truth, for a way to put off making the decision about a 'career'. I joined Marks & Spencer on their Graduate programme as a Commercial Management trainee, the first day notable for being filmed by Channel 4 television ('The Gospel According to St Michael', available in very few good video stores). However, having developed an aversion to turkeys over Christmas and an aversion to shoppers in general, I left to join Ernst & Young in London as an audit trainee.

I had four very good years at E&Y working on a variety of clients and gaining valuable experience. I did my exams with BPP and remember talking to the tutor after my bookkeeping week about a job in training. Four years later I applied to the Bristol centre and five years after that, here I am, managing BPP's largest regional office.

I work with a very talented, experienced and supportive group of tutors and admin staff. I feel very much part of a team that is committed to helping students both in and outside the classroom. Working at BPP is demanding, largely because we all want to help each individual student realise their potential but it is also extremely rewarding, providing a real sense of job satisfaction. I am conscious that we need to listen to students and continuously move forward if we are to maintain our reputation and I think the signs are good with initiatives such as ICAEW Powerpoint material and the Virtual Campus along with consistently excellent pass rates.

In terms of my working day, I am generally woken by one of our children somewhere in the 5 - 5.30am time zone. This could be a request to wipe a bottom, read a story, make breakfast or just get out of the way so they can cuddle Mummy. (I should point out that our children are five, three and one) After breakfast and getting dressed, we watch a bit of Cbeebies and I leave for work at around 7am.

My working day revolves around teaching, internal issues such as recruitment, timetabling and brochure production as well as client relations. I try and get home to see the children before they go to bed which puts any stresses of the working day in perspective. They have been to BPP House several times and think it is amazing that I work somewhere that has drinks and snack machines as well as computers with access to the Cbeebies website - they have a warped concept of what we do and when they grow up they want to be tutors!

Outside of work, the sporting dream flickers on through cricket in the summer and football with my Church team in the winter while my family keeps me pretty busy for the rest of the time.
I had no idea what path I was embarking on when I started out as an accountant and I feel extremely blessed that it has led me to a career that I enjoy immensely with a great bunch of people in a beautiful part of the world. Hopefully, this has provided some interest in the South West as well as 'son interest' in West Sussex.