Helen Drew has been elected President of the Birmingham and West Midlands Society of Chartered Accountants.
She is an audit and assurance partner in the Midlands office of national audit, tax and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill.
At the regional meeting at which she was elected, Helen reaffirmed her commitment to helping the West Midlands District Society to support its membership and to continue to build its connections with the business community.
“The focus for the district society this year will be the business game for schools, the annual Practice Conference for smaller firms and programmes to support and engage with our business members,” she said.
The business game for schools was an initiative launched by the Birmingham and West Midlands Society in 2008 and has now been picked up by ICAEW and rolled out across the country. It requires school teams to act as business advisers for a client and consider various options for their business.
Last year 198 teams took part across the country with local games in Birmingham, Telford, Worcester and Coventry.
And it was Birmingham and the West Midlands region which pioneered the idea of the Business Advice Service (BAS), which enables SMEs to get free initial advice from a chartered accountant.
“This is another initiative pioneered here which the ICAEW recognised as a valuable service and has rolled out nationally as well,” she said.
The highpoint of her year as President is the annual dinner on March 28, 2014, with a special guest speaker yet to be announced.
In her role with Crowe Clark Whitehill, Helen Drew also heads up the Midlands Not for Profit specialism and her clients include a number of academies, independent schools, student unions and other registered charities.
She is also the firm’s Practice Assurance and Audit Quality Partner and is responsible for monitoring the quality of the work delivered by Crowe Clark Whitehill across all disciplines.
Formerly chairman of the Worcestershire Group of Chartered Accountants, she is also vice chair of the Practice Assurance Committee at the ICAEW and a trustee at Birmingham City University Students Union.
Crowe Clark Whitehill’s Midlands managing partner Johnathan Dudley said: “This is timely recognition of the work Helen has put in for the ICAEW in the West Midlands and also of Crowe Clark Whitehill’s commitment to support the ICAEW’s strategy in the region.”
“We are delighted for her and wish her well in her year as President.”