Kay shares her story about completing her PhD

After starting as an unpaid articled clerk in Derby in the 1970s, alumna Dr Kay Linnell became a qualified Chartered Accountant, Chartered Arbitrator, and CEDR Accredited Mediator specialising in forensic accountancy that includes financial investigation, fraud, tax enquiries, and acting as an expert witness in the Civil and Criminal Courts.  She is a Fellow and life member of the Expert Witness Institute and a Certified Fraud Examiner.  She has an MBA from Sheffield University and her PHD from the University of Portsmouth.  She is a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators.

Kay has enjoyed a varied career having worked as a Forensic Director for global accountancy and business advisory firms Smith & Williamson and also BDO, which boasts 1600 offices worldwide. She has also held the position of the Board of Inland Revenue’s Chief Investigating Accountant and Head of Accountancy Profession. She was the first chief executive of the Joint Insolvency Monitoring Unit, the regulator of the Insolvency Profession and has worked in industry as Head of UK tax for Forte plc.

Kay’s work has encompassed high-profile fraud cases in Courts in the UK and around the world, and Arbitration appointments in domestic, sports and international cases.

She has been involved in the litigation process to support the sub-postmasters in the highly publicised Post Office scandal, which was dramatized in the ITV hit series “Mr Bates vs The Post Office”.

She has had a life long interest in fraud and completed her PhD on how small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) protect themselves against fraud. She currently runs a successful practice, Kay Linnell and Co. which has thrived for over 36 years, handling forensic cases in criminal, civil, and family courts both in the UK and internationally.

I began work as an Articled Clerk in a small firm of accountants in Derby in 1973 paying a £100 premium to be trained with no salary for five years working five and a half days a week and studying by correspondence course in the evenings. Clerks provided cheap labour and made accountancy practices very profitable in those days, but although the hours were long and involved a lot of hard work and studying by correspondence course the training was second to none and involved every aspect of accountancy, tax compliance, tribunal work and client care. I left articles and joined another small firm and was made up as a partner running a tax team. It was there I discovered a fraud and it became a lifelong interest.

‘I assisted the police with a sports club investigation into missing takings and was delighted they were able to secure a conviction’. Dr Kay Linnell, PhD 2024, Fraud in small and midsize enterprises (SMEs)

After assisting with opening a Derby branch of the Pannell Fitzpatrick, I moved to another small accountancy practice and was made a partner within eight months. It was there that I discovered fraud, and a lifelong fascination was born. I assisted the police with a sports club investigation into missing takings and was delighted to secure a conviction.

I joined the Inland Revenue in London and after a time it was made clear to me that unless I had a University degree I would not progress in the Civil Service. I took a sabbatical year and attended Sheffield University and returned to HMRC as a graduate. I was fortunate enough to be promoted to the ultimate job for any accountant as the Board of Inland Revenue’s Chief Investigating and Prosecuting Accountant and Head of the Accounting Profession.

I left HMRC after a reorganisation and joined a small North London accountancy practice dealing with Company Secretarial, tax investigation and forensic cases.  I was head hunted to become a partner at Morley & Scott setting up and running a Forensic team, from there I was head hunted by Smith & Williamson Limited to set up a Forensic team in Southampton to cover the South of England.

I was headhunted again by BDO and ran their forensic team in Southampton and through a liaison with the University of Portsmouth commissioned a Fraud Survey with Richard Trafford to gain empirical evidence of the level of fraud in the area, and particularly its impact on SMEs.

I left BDO in 2010 and started further research into fraud after transferring my forensic practice to run from home on a self-employed basis. My co-Director Mrs Barbara Jeremiah JP, SRN, BA Hons (Art in the Community Surrey) and MSc (Criminology Oxon) promoted the case of a local Post Mistress and as a practice we joined and actively took up the cause focused by Sir Alan Bates to obtain redress and justice for the victims of the Post Office Limited ‘Horizon’.  We assisted The Justice for Sub-postmaster Alliance (FSA) in locating evidence, attending meetings with the legal team, and through the Mediation Working Group and High Court litigation obtaining judgments and redress for sub-postmasters. Individually every sub-postmaster who asked has been given free accountancy, tax, and advice about finances, references, and settlements.

I was persuaded to start a part-time PhD and take on some part-time lecturing in MSc Forensic Accounting. I really enjoy meeting students from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences starting on their careers in fraud detection and prevention and discussing life as a forensic accountant.

My PhD studies took much longer than I had hoped because of other work commitments including becoming embroiled in the Post Office litigation to support the sub-postmasters.

I am so grateful for the support of Professor Lisa Jack and everyone in BAL for their support. My study of the Wine and Spirits Trade Association and that industry was absolutely fascinating. It enabled me to begin to develop a new theory using pragmatic constructivism referring to theories by Eck and Durkheim. I hope future students will continue to develop this theory and gather more empirical evidence to test it in the field.

‘My advice to students is to decide what you want to do, work out how  you can get there and start with your end goal in mind and you will succeed’. Dr Kay Linnell, PhD 2024, Fraud in small and midsize enterprises (SMEs)