Mr Christopher Barlow MEng (Hons) FCA HEA PGCert (Ed) CMBE

Personal Statement

I am the Director of Studies for the Football Industries MBA, where I will be utilising the knowledge gained from my previous employability role to ensure that students are able to accelerate their career in the football industry.

I originally qualified as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in Liverpool, working in audit and assurance. Clients ranged from small owner managed businesses to large listed companies.

Teaching has specialised in Financial Reporting and Financial Management, teaching across all the major professional qualifications (ACA, ACCA and CIMA) both in the UK and overseas. Since starting at the University of Liverpool in January 2016, I have continued to teach Financial Reporting alongside teaching on the professional skills and employability modules. I always try to simplify the subject’s content and apply it to the real world.

I took on the Director of Employability and Placements role in September 2019, without knowing that a global pandemic was on the horizon. I have used the role to give our Management School students the best possibility of securing placements and graduate roles in a challenging graduate recruitment market through development of the first year placement preparation module alongside a more tailored approach in year two to supporting students identify opportunities and make the application. This approach has seen the Management School see record numbers of students secure placements.

I am also the Enactus Liverpool University Adviser (UA) helping the team to develop entrepreneurial projects that help those less fortunate in society through use of the UN's SDGs. The team have reached the semi-final stages of the UK National Expo in 2019, with their projects Pitch and Gaia, and in 2021, with their projects Employable and Cancelcyberbullying. In 2021 I was fortunate enough to be awarded with the Enactus UK University Adviser of the year.

Outside of my role at the University I love football and cricket, having travelled to Japan, Australia, Portugal and the Caribbean to watch England fail when it all seemed so promising, but at least Liverpool didn’t let me down in Istanbul or Madrid.