A CIPFA Charity and Third Sector case study for Ben Clarkson, the Chief Finance and Operating Officer at Parkinson's UK.
Ben Clarkson was appointed Chief Finance and Operating Officer at Parkinson's UK in July 2024, where his role in the charity’s executive leadership team includes responsibility for finance, governance, legal, planning and performance, and technology.
Having graduated with a degree in History from the University of Sheffield, Ben was awarded a place on the Audit Commission’s graduate trainee programme in 2008, where his finance education included auditing local government and NHS clients while completing his CIPFA studies. In 2012, shortly after gaining his CIPFA qualifications, Ben’s career journey took him into the charity sector. Since then, he has enjoyed a number of senior finance roles, including four years as head of financial operations at Macmillan Cancer Support, director of finance and resources at The London Community Foundation, and five years as chief operating officer at Asthma + Lung UK before joining Parkinson’s UK.
What initially led you to become a CIPFA member or to qualify with CIPFA?
My CIPFA training was a key part of the Audit Commission's graduate trainee programme. Having studied history at university, I didn’t have what might be considered a ‘traditional’ finance-related background. However, I was particularly motivated by the idea of public service, and this has evolved over time to bring me into the charity sector. I was also keen to study for a professional accounting qualification with CIPFA because I knew it would give me a solid skills base upon which to build a career – and that has proved to be the case.
Why did you choose the public and charity sectors over the private sector?
I am very motivated by having personal purpose in my career and feeling like I'm doing something for the greater good. I'm not really motivated by generating profit for shareholders, it’s more about ensuring organisations perform in the best way possible for their stakeholders. While there is much that I’ve applied in my roles that I’ve borrowed from commercial organisations, for me it is ultimately about that sense of purpose. And that's probably why I’ve ended up in the charity sector for most of my career. You can feel like you're genuinely achieving something – you can make a decision that helps save or generate some money and that can then be spent directly on the beneficiaries of the cause, and that’s a very rewarding feeling.
You can apply that public sector audit mindset to ensure that the charities run effectively and efficiently, to maximise the amount of money that goes to the cause, and to make sure that donors’ money is being used as well as possible.
What have been the greatest challenges, both during your career and within the public finance and charity sectors as a whole?
The highlight of my career so far, but also the greatest challenge, was leading the successful merger of two charities, which came together to form Asthma + Lung UK. The merger took place just before the coronavirus pandemic, which added an extra dimension to a tricky task, but I am particularly proud of the work we did to build a modern and well-run charity that was more than the sum of its parts. I have the mindset that nothing worth doing is ever easy, and it has served me well through some volatile and changing times. As in the public sector, charities seldom have the resources they need, so sometimes you must get creative about how best to solve problems.
The challenge of responding to the pandemic was another major challenge. Our ability to fundraise was severely restricted with events cancelled and lockdown, so income dropped, while at the same time demand for our services soared. Following that, we entered a period of high inflation that increased our costs significantly. It has been a really challenging environment to be in over the past few years. But what has been so amazing is the generosity of people through all of that – although people are really struggling, they are still giving to charities.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of working in the public or charity sectors?
It's been the ability to drive real positive change for people. Sometimes that can be through leading modernisation in an organisation. But sometimes it can be relatively simple things, such as supporting what we call community innovations. Our community – the people we serve with Parkinson's, their carers and families – are incredibly resilient people, and they'll come up with ideas to make life better, which we try to support. Sometimes it's a local class that brings people together, or sometimes it may be a technical innovation; whether it’s big or small, we can support them to make a positive difference. That’s not something you get in every job – making people's lives better.
How has being a CIPFA member supported you in your career?
CIPFA has been the platform on which I've built my career. It gives you a very broad skillset because, of all the accountancy training available, CIPFA is the most well-rounded. In practical terms, unlike some other qualifications, the CIPFA training programme includes elements of charitable financial reporting, so this gave me a bit of a head start in switching from the public sector. But there's also the training around governance and other elements that give you a really solid, well-rounded experience. That’s vital for a leadership role in a charity, where actual accounting may be minimal, but where a broader skillset is important.
And, crucially, it is all built on the solid foundation of being a CIPFA-qualified accountant; having the CIPFA qualification certainly opens doors to many different opportunities.
What advice would you give to people who are beginning their career in public finance?
My advice to new CIPFA graduates is to take a look at the jobs on offer in the charity sector, because it can be a great way to develop and broaden your skills, and it gives you a great sense of purpose. If you've got that kind of mindset that leads you into public service, then the charity sector can be a really rewarding place. In my experience, charities provide a very modern working environment and are run in a similar professional way to contemporary businesses, but they're led by purpose rather than profit.
Also, quite often charities like to hire newly qualified accountants and then develop them, which is something I benefited from early in my career.
What book, film or podcast would you recommend to anyone working in public finance?
I'm going to be slightly biased and recommend a podcast that I’ve appeared on – the Happy Manifesto Podcast. It’s based around a book called The Happy Manifesto by Henry Stewart, and at its heart is the idea that happy people are more productive and, because we spend so much time at our jobs, getting joy where you work is a great thing. The book is full of examples of organisations and leaders that have used some of these principles to great effect and have had a real impact. I've used some of those techniques in my career, which is why I was invited onto the podcast.
What would you say to somebody thinking of becoming a CIPFA member?
Excellent choice. If you want a well-rounded experience and a qualification that's going to set you up for life, you can't really do much better.
