JACKIE HENRY MBE

CLASS OF 1985

Deloitte – Managing Partner for People & Purpose NI Businesswoman of the Year 2023

I left Belfast High School in 1985 with a set of A Level grades that were much better than predicted, which secured me a last-minute switch to study Accountancy at Queen’s University. Three years later I graduated with a first-class honours degree in Accountancy and a top-of-year postgraduate award to complete a Masters. I then joined Deloitte in 1989 and qualified as a chartered accountant three years later. Thirty-four years on, Deloitte is the world’s largest professional services firm and I am privileged to be Managing Partner for People & Purpose in the UK, responsible for 27,000 people, and Senior Partner for the Deloitte Belfast hub.

When I left Belfast High School, I never dreamt this would be my role or that I would also be fortunate enough to be a visiting professor and honorary Doctor of Science of Ulster University, the pioneer of the first ever degree-led apprenticeship in Northern Ireland, receive an MBE from the late Queen for my services to the NI economy, or be recognised as Northern Ireland’s Businesswoman of the Year 2023.

Looking back at the world when I was in school, the backdrop to my entire schooling was the Troubles; the World Wide Web didn’t exist, there were no iPhones, and the cloud was just something in the sky. However, within that context this very average student found great joy in school and that was because of the people I met and their impact on my life – the teachers who inspired me to be curious, explore and have a good go at things, and my friends, who I still see, and who helped me understand the importance of being me.

When I reflect on my time since leaving school, what I did every step of the way was to use the foundations set in Belfast High School – the curiosity that supported me to have a good go at things and of always being me. These things spurred me on to take every opportunity that presented itself to me and every one of those gave me something, even if, in some cases, it was to understand the things I would never do again.

So, my message to current and future pupils is to be curious, explore and make the most of opportunities that present themselves to you because, like me, you just never know where you might end up.