Guest speaker gives financial insight

First year students on the Sport Business Management BSc(Hons) welcomed Joseph Lowe, an ACCA qualified accountant, to deliver a talk on leisure trust management and community sport.

Student John Hanson reports on the lecture:

“Joseph Lowe came to the University of Brighton to give a presentation to first year students studying the Finance for Sport Management module. Joseph is a qualified accountant who graduated with a politics degree from Warwick University.

“He is an experienced Charity Finance Director and Company Secretary and is currently the Chief Executive of International House Trust.

“In 1996 Joseph was key to the transition of Islington Council leisure services to a newly formed charity; Aquaterra Leisure.  He played a key role in the growth of Aquaterra Leisure as the Bath & North East Somerset leisure services were added to the charity’s portfolio.

“Joseph is a keen runner and is also treasurer of one of the largest athletics club in the country, Highgate Harriers, which was founded in 1879.

“His presentation related to leisure trust management and community sport and he started by talking about his experience and history. He then explained the role of a finance director, discussing the financial opportunities and challenges of leisure businesses, such as Aquaterra Leisure.

“The group discussed how Aquaterra generated income and what it spent money on.  We also discussed how Aquaterra planned for the short and long term through financial plans and budgets.

“Joseph then talked about the role of a voluntary treasurer for a large athletics club and the level of commitment required. He particularly talked about the ‘Night of 10,000m PBs’, an event managed by the club, which is used as the qualifying race for major championships such as the London 2012 Olympics, and has been attended by Lord Sebastian Co and Paula Radcliffe MBE.

“The talk was interesting from the perspective of getting a real insight into what finance within leisure businesses and community organisations is like and it was interesting to hear about Joseph’s personal experiences. The talk was very engaging and fun to listen to and was overall an enjoyable experience.”