Profile - Jane Clayton, S. Wales Society of Chartered Accountants

Welcoming its first woman president, the South Wales Society of Chartered Accountants has inaugurated Jane Clayton.

Currently deputy chairwoman of Swansea Building Society and a lecturer at University College Swansea, English ICA member Clayton qualified in 1978. She trained with Deloitte Haskins & Sells where she stayed in a managerial role until 1983, which she successfully combined with starting a family.

To remain involved with the profession while juggling the demands of a young family, Clayton began lecturing part-time in 1982, encouraging young people to realise their potential. She said: ‘It saddens me to see so many students coming through with a lack of basic numeric and writing skills. We seem to have a generation of innovative thinkers without the solid foundations for full development.’

Once her second child was in school full-time, Clayton began to accept ‘project-type’ work and joined several firms as a non-executive director. She explained: ‘Small to medium-sized enterprises often need such support, and our professional training is well suited. It’s a role that can’t be filled while in practice, but suits individuals with a “portfolio career”.’

As president of the SWSCA, she appreciates the importance of ensuring ‘members’ needs are met locally and information and debate from and to the institute is channelled in an effective manner’.