Katie Murray

Armed with a BA in Accountancy from GCU, Katie Murray went on to become the first female Chief Financial Officer at the NatWest group and the first in Europe.

With nearly 30 years in finance and accountancy, Katie often shares that her GCU degree was fundamental to her many achievements. It allowed her to kickstart her career with a prestigious traineeship with Alexander Sloan after graduating.

The hardest moments in life shape you

During her early career, Katie worked at KPMG on a project which took her to Spain and it was here she learnt her hardest lesson.

She said: “I flew back from Barcelona and my husband was waiting for me. I burst into tears saying that I had the worst experience of my professional career. I’ve been shouted at by all these directors who I was trying to deliver a service to, but the CFO at the time said to me it was a brilliant meeting because we got all of their issues onto the table. Looking back, it was one of my best lessons. Get your problems out on the table and then you can address the issue.”

Katie grew stronger as a person and a professional which took her to Johannesburg, South Africa as CFO of Old Mutual, where she worked for five years.

Recollecting on fond memories at GCU, she said: “This is a really daft one but there used to be a wee sweetie shop down in the building, and I remember I used to go buy two refreshers before one of my lectures on a Wednesday."

“I also met my husband, so he probably deserves some of the credit as well.”

Joining us virtually in a Captain of Industry talk in 2020, Katie shared the impact of COVID-19 within the banking sector, as well as advice for graduates entering the job market. You can watch the video recording in the viewer below.