On 9 September 2021, Liverymen David Lock and Zillah Stone met over Zoom with Allwyn Abraham, the winner of this year’s WCCSA prize for the best-performing student on the CGI/LLM course at Portsmouth, to (virtually) shake his hand and award him the prize.

Below is Allwyn’s thank you article:

‘I am extremely grateful to have been chosen to receive the Best Performing Student award on the Corporate Governance and Law/Grad ICSA LLM course. I am so honoured to have my work recognised in this way by the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

 I would like to thank all the dedicated and passionate lecturers at the University of Portsmouth, including Joanne Atkinson and Lee Roach who made lectures interesting and enjoyable with their innovative ways of teaching. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my course mates and company secretarial mentors for all their moral support and encouragement. And of course I am very thankful for my family and friends who were with me every step of the way, without their love and support I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this award.

 After the completion of my undergraduate Degree in Radiography, I came to the realisation that my true interests lie with becoming a chartered company secretary. Going through a career change was not easy, but the support bubble I had around me really helped me to reach this first milestone on my journey. My first role in Governance was at Persimmon Plc as a company secretarial assistant where I learnt the core practical skills needed to be an effective company secretary. As I now step into my new role as company secretarial assistant at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Plc, I aim to use my knowledge and skills to make a positive impact to the governance function of the company.

Company secretaries play the role of promoting good corporate governance to foster a culture of integrity which leads to positive performing and sustainable businesses. Completing the Corporate Governance and Law/Grad ICSA LLM course is what has enabled me to begin this important and rewarding career. And now to have won this prestigious award from the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators seriously means a lot to me. I am very thankful for the recognition from the WCCSA and the University of Portsmouth. I hope that this recognition can serve as an inspiration to others in the field.’

Congratulations to Allwyn, from all at WCCSA!