Actor Turned Accountant

Mark Wong

FORMER actor Mark Wong has won a top award after switching career roles to accountancy.



Mark, 34, who is now training as a chartered accountant with KPMG in Cambridge, has been named PQ (part-qualified accountant) of the Year in PQ magazine's annual awards.



He joined KPMG as an Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) trainee in June 2006 and is now studying for the prestigious ACA qualification of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).



"Winning this award is a great feeling and really vindicates the tough choice I made to pursue a career in accountancy," said Mark.



Educated at Cambridge's Parkside Community College and Long Road Sixth Form College, Mark gave up his dentistry degree half-way through the course to follow his dream of becoming an actor.



Having appeared in TV series like Jonathan Creek, Casualty and Grange Hill, he also made it into films, doing his own stunts as a 'henchman' in the 2003 blockbuster Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life, starring Angelina Jolie.



But when his wife Georgina gave birth to their first child Franklin, now four. Mark took on his most challenging role yet - that of family man. The couple also have another son, one-year-old Leonardo.



"Being the father of a young baby changed my whole outlook and my priorities were now completely different," he said.



"After working long hours and being away from home a lot, I wanted to secure my financial position, work consistent hours and have a reliable income to provide for my family."



"I couldn't afford to go back to university because I had a family and a mortgage. Becoming a full-time student again just wasn't an option," he said.



Mark visited the ICAEW website and discovered the alternative routes into the profession for non-graduates. Having completed his AAT course, he was able to switch to the ICAEW programme via the AAT-to-ACA fast-track route.



While film work is firmly on the back burner for the time being at least, he still keeps his hand in and was shortlisted for the second year running in this year's Jameson Empire Awards for his 60-second version of the movie Pear Harbour.



For more information about training as a chartered accountant, visit www.icaew.com/careers