Marketing Assistant to Partner: Zoë's prosperity story
Zoë Paradine started her career with UHY as a Marketing Assistant, fresh out of university. Through exceptional dedication, skill and a commitment to personal prosperity, 11 years after joining UHY Zoë became a Director and by 2017 she reached the pinnacle of her career, being promoted to partner.
Zoë started her career at UHY Hacker Young as a Group Marketing Assistant in May 1999, supporting our offices across the UK with their marketing needs. Quickly becoming an integral member of the UHY family, by 2004 Zoë was leading the national marketing team as Group Marketing Manager and, by 2010, Zoë had been promoted again, this time to National Marketing & BD Director, continuing to drive the Group's growth through marketing and BD.
Zoë’s impressive career journey continued. In December 2015, she took on additional responsibilities in a dual role, becoming National Executive Director for our UK group, alongside her existing role as Head of Marketing & BD. Two years later, in December 2017, Zoë’s career reached its ultimate milestone with her appointment to partner in our London firm.
It wasn’t long after Zoë joined UHY that she was recognised for her commitment and drive to succeed. Zoë's creative thinking, attention to detail, and ability to adapt to changing market trends made her an invaluable asset and she was soon promoted and entrusted with additional responsibilities, taking charge of the growing national marketing team and an ever-growing remit.
As Zoë continued to climb the career ladder, her passion to help UHY prosper, both for the benefit of our teams and for clients, was evident. In the dual role Zoë holds today, she remains responsible for the full marketing and BD mix, at the same time as driving the success of our national strategic goals. Zoë’s two roles sit naturally together, as our ambition for growth and ongoing development is supported by the national marketing and BD team Zoë leads, who work on campaigns to target new business across our core markets and to drive UHY’s profile both nationally and locally.
“UHY have been amazing to me throughout my career; always investing in me and providing opportunities for growth and development, whilst supporting me to be the best mum I can be at the same time. All of this combined with the fantastic team of people (my UHY family) and the open and supportive culture across our firms are what have kept me here, enabled me to progress to partner, and driven my passion to do all that I can to help UHY prosper.”
Zoe Paradine, Marketing & BD Partner and National Executive Director
Since Zoë joined UHY in her twenties, she has married her husband, Tris, and welcomed two lovely children, Poppy and Alfie. With close support from her fellow partners and our dedicated HR team in London, Zoë has always been careful to ensure she gets the balance between personal and professional prosperity right. When Poppy, and later Alfie, were born, Zoë took full maternity leave and, on returning to work, changed her working arrangements so she could work at home at least two days a week to maximise time with her young family. This was agreed prior to the flexible working arrangements that are common in today’s post-pandemic working environment.
For Zoë, another part of getting the balance right is making sure she dedicates time to fitness during the working week. Zoë developed a love for running when training for and completing the Brighton Marathon for Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) in 2017 and, more recently, also took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge for UHY’s 2022/23 charity of the year, ShelterBox (this time hiking, not running!). Being supported to find the right balance between personal and professional prosperity has been key to Zoë’s success at UHY.
In her dual role, Zoë now sits on the London and Nottingham Executive Committee, the UHY UK Board and Executive Committee and is a member of the UHY International Marketing & BD working group. She plays a critical role in shaping UHY’s strategic direction and driving growth, both in London and nationally. Her expertise in marketing and BD, coupled with her deep understanding of our national operations, allows her to make informed decisions that positively impact UHY’s brand, our teams, client acquisition and overall profitability.
It is unusual for someone who is not an accountant, tax professional, corporate financier or insolvency professional to be offered a route to partnership in an accountancy firm. When Zoë was made partner in 2017, she was the first non-fee earner in our London firm to do so. However, during Zoë‘s career she has proven she is every bit as valuable as our fee-earners and adds enormous value to everyone across UHY. Zoë's journey from a Marketing Assistant to Partner serves as an inspiring example of how both personal and professional prosperity can be achieved at UHY.
