BWS issue 36 November December 2015 | Page 14

12 BUSINESS WOMEN SCOTLAND profiles

© Phillimore Photography

From Hairdresser to Accountant
to the Queen of Profit

B

We all know Gloria Murray as the Queen of Profit and
Director of Murray Associates Accountants Ltd. As you
know she is a UK award-winning accountant and business
growth specialist who has a passion to help small business
owners create sustainable profitable businesses. But the
story of how she got there was inspired by watching one
of the greatest business advisers she has seen in ‘The
Troubleshooter’ a TV programme back in the 90’s.

ut what you might NOT know is Gloria
was once a successful hairdresser in a
Glasgow city-centre salon. When she left
school she studied Psychology, “after
a few months I realised the students
(and most of the lecturers were mad
as hatters). I was too, of course, but
hindsight is a wonderful thing” Gloria laughs.
She finished her degree, did a stint as Vice-President
of the Student’s Union and then left for Paris, where she
worked as an au pair for a year improving her French
(and ironing the family’s socks!!)
When back in Glasgow she fell into a job as
Manager of a Health and Fitness Club. “I was very
interested in fitness and saw an advert for a fitness
instructor - no experience necessary as training would
be given. Thirty years ago there were not many about. I
went for the interview and was asked if I would become
the manager instead. I was gobsmacked” she said.
However it was not the job she expected involving a
lot of high pressure sales. “This really did not sit well
with my values, so I left after a year” she comments.
A chance meeting with a hairdresser friend resulted
in her training as a hairdresser. Unfortunately she didn’t
finish her training, when her son came along it just wasn’t
possible to do the long hours of training and commuting.
To cut a long story short she started her own
business when her son was born (that was a
business disaster), moved to Newcastle to work in
Administration at Newcastle University and then The
Midlands to help in her partner’s business.

Since her first foray into self employment she
became fascinated in what made a business
successful and was an avid fan of Sir John HarveyJones and his ‘Troubleshooter’ TV programme in the
early 90s and thought she would love to do that.
“What I loved about Sir John was his down to
earth approach. He started with the numbers and
then spoke to the people in the business, from the
Boardroom to the factory floor. It was about numbers
but also the people and I thought that was a great
approach” she comments.
Eventually she returned to Glasgow to go back
to hairdressing (same salon) and finish her training!
While still a hairdresser she got more involved in
the running of the salon and took over the financial
management. She completed her Institute of
Bookkeeping qualification and started studying her
professional exams for the Association of Certified
Chartered Accountants. “I wasn’t intending on
becoming an accountant at this point, but just
wanted to know more. Whenever I asked the salon’s
accountant a question on improving the business
or saving tax I could never get a straight answer.
I thought I didn’t know enough to ask the right
questions and that’s where my curiosity came from”
said Gloria.
The idea for her own business came after a visit to
the salon’s large accountancy firm. “We walked into
this very plush, very large reception area with two
receptionists behind this huge circular desk. They were
having a conversation so just ignored us for around ten

www.murrayassociates.co.uk

www.queenofprofit.co.uk