Motivation | Distance learner
From animal care to accountancy
When Harry Robinson-Brown began his professional journey, he was learning how to care for animals, not balancing spreadsheets. Today, he’s finance manager in a vital medical research department at Cambridge University
Words Marianne Curphey
AT A GLANCE
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Harry has successfully completed AAT Level 4 despite not staying on to study A-Levels at school.
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His role supports research and education at the School of Clinical Medicine, enabling groundbreaking treatments for neurological diseases.
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The supportive network has enabled him to develop his career and his professional skills.
Harry Robinson-Brown’s role in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at Cambridge University’s School of Clinical Medicine sees him helping to manage millions of pounds in research funding that supports pioneering work in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. His career is an inspiring story of how he came to join a finance team at one of the world’s most respected universities via a non-linear path.
The path less trodden
After finishing his GCSEs, Robinson-Brown opted not to pursue A-Levels or university and instead went to college and started an apprenticeship in animal care. He was concerned about building up student debt and he wanted to gain a qualification that would provide him with a job at the end of his training.
Although he enjoyed the practical application of his skills, and he enjoyed working in the field of animal care, he felt he needed a change after a few years. He worked for a time at a garden centre and nursery, honing his customer-facing and organisational skills, before deciding that he wanted to find a career that offered more of an intellectual challenge and a chance to progress.
He set about exploring practical options in his rural hometown of March, Cambridgeshire.
“I knew that I wanted to work and study, and I had a close friend working in finance,” he says. His friend’s job sounded interesting and varied, and it was a chance for Robinson-Brown to explore his interest in maths, something he had enjoyed studying at school.
“I enjoy working with numbers and I enjoy complex systems,” he says. “I also enjoy trying to capture complicated organisations in a financial picture, so the idea of working in that field really appealed to me.”
“There’s a lot of liaising with researchers and admin staff, providing advice. Higher education finance is quite a complicated area.”
Finance apprenticeship
Harry applied for a finance apprenticeship he found on the HMRC website. It led to a role with Cambridge University’s School of Clinical Medicine in 2021.
“It was a fixed-term contract for 18 months and the university provided the work experience and funded the exams I needed to sit,” he explains. “My colleagues were very helpful, very supportive, both in advice with studying and on the job. I’m very grateful and I feel very lucky to have the opportunities I’ve been afforded.
“I started in 2021 as a finance apprentice. I attended Cambridge Regional College, studying for an 18-month apprenticeship. I started at AAT Level 3 and, after I qualified, I successfully applied for a job as a senior accounts clerk in the same department in August 2022.”
The university funded his AAT Level 4 qualification, which he completed in mid-2024. He has since stepped into a more senior leadership position as finance manager. In his current role, Robinson-Brown oversees a team split between grants and accounts.
“A big part of what the department does is excellent research and teaching,” he explains. “A typical day includes a number of meetings and one-to-ones with team members and senior managers, discussions on finance topics, reporting on finance and grants, and strategic financial planning, which is one of my favourite areas to work on.”
His work is part of the background function that helps support groundbreaking research into neurological diseases.
“We, as a finance team, are providing an internal service to the department,” Robinson-Brown says. “There’s a lot of liaising with researchers and admin staff, providing advice. Higher education finance is quite a complicated area.”
Being involved – even in the background – in life-changing research has real personal meaning. “You hope it actually does change people’s lives, particularly on the neuroscience side of things,” he adds. “It is close to home in a number of ways. I’ve had family members who have developed dementia.”
Recalling his job interview, Robinson-Brown says: “I asked the panel why they enjoyed working for the university. What came across was the sense of playing a part and being an enabler for the amazing research that takes place across the department and the School of Clinical Medicine.”
Variety and opportunity
Robinson-Brown’s rise within the university was not just due to technical expertise, but also his ability to adapt and grow within a complex organisation, as well as his willingness to take on new challenges and responsibilities.
“One of the big benefits of being in such a large organisation is the variety and opportunity for training, especially around leadership, using Excel and learning about financial reporting,” he says. “That’s been a real benefit to my development.”
Technology is playing an increasing role in his work, particularly with the advent of AI.
“It’s very useful,” he says, “especially for tricky Excel formulas that once took 20 minutes to figure out.” However, he believes that it is important to understand the processes behind AI rather than rely on it blindly.
“If you don’t understand the fundamentals behind it, you are at risk of not gaining the same type of knowledge you would have by doing it the manual way,” he says.
Looking ahead, Robinson-Brown has taken a brief break from studying to reflect on his next steps. “I’m quite keen to start studying again,” he says, considering options including ACCA, CIMA or even specialist finance qualifications such as becoming a chartered financial analyst.
“The community and supportive nature of the university is something that I really enjoy,” he says. “There’s a big effort to make everybody feel like they are part of a community.”
He says the most rewarding part of the job is playing his part in helping to accelerate research and scientific recovery.
He adds: “To see something go from grant application to research and then to practical application, and for that research to make a real difference in people’s lives, is extremely rewarding to be a part of.”
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