Ahmed Mirza (PhD Candidate)

Ahmed was raised in Kuwait before moving into the United Kingdom for his undergraduate degree 9 years ago.

Ahmed is currently conducting Postgraduate Research as an incoming PhD (R) Candidate at the University of Glasgow. His thesis examines the interactions and influence institutions have in the Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA), the start-up rates, within countries over a period of time. 

Prior to the PhD programme, Ahmed worked in a food franchise start-up, making his mark in the UK by opening 3 stores simultaneously. A wide array of areas, including HR, Marketing, Operations and Finance, were covered to ensure adequate procedures were in place across the 3 stores.

Ahmed completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate degree in Scotland. His theses for both degrees examined current contemporary issues regarding Multinationals originating from Emerging Markets. His past work experiences include work experience with the Scottish Government and two of the 'Big 4' auditing firms (KPMG and EY).

Ahmed intends to enter into roles within the FinTech, blockchain and web3 roles after completing his PhD. His interests asides from the roles mentioned, lie in examining regulations and their influence on ventures and international trade (particularly surrounding emerging markets and Chinese multinationals)​. 

 

 

 

Skills and Work Experience

 

1) Data Analyst at the Scottish Government (2021 - 2022):
- Enacted statistical reports produced summarising data audit returns (including types of data, benchmarking determined via sample size and data accessibility) using approximately 6 million observations over 70 databases.
- Established data modelling and statistical analysis (significance tests) to note social trends and draw conclusions on Scottish pupils and harmful attitudes examining approximately a 35,000 sample size.
- Produced interactive infographics effectively visualising data results composed of a 3 million sample size allowing ministers to improve understandings of proposed actions.

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2) Sales&Marketing Manager at Paramount Lebanese Kitchen ( 2018 - 2019):

- Stimulated different modes of social media and interactions to better understand customers requirements allowing sales revenue to increase 28% per annum.
- Spearheaded marketing campaigns utilising real-time data from the franchise stores themselves and social media posts to discover products with low sales and increase advertising directly for such products increasing demand by 7% per month via effective marketing and sales strategies .
- Deciphered performance of all Restaurant sites examining profitability, sales targets, inventory and labour costs reducing both long-term capital and operating expenditure by 33% per annum.
 

3) Auditor at Ernst&Young (2016 - 2016):

- Spearheaded 'quality assessment' audits of three clients, verifying activities complied with procedures examining sales cut-offs, bank payments and journal entry tests ensuring deadlines were met prior to target dates.
- Constructed variance analysis reports to highlight financial ratios for institutions, liaising with senior management and presenting findings to interpret financial ratios with 50% manpower of staff to work on the report.
- Instructed clients on required operational changes after building financial skeletons reducing operational expenditure by 17%.

 

4) Management Consultant at KPMG Intl. Co. W.L.L (2014 - 2015): 
- Advised on diligent readiness ahead of strategic operational change implementation by constructing resource policies reducing staff turnover by 33%.
- Ensured compilation of the first database in the country entailing details of fixed/current account rates, fixed deposits, credit cards and customer segmentation for the seven largest retail banks in the country.
- Optimised the computational efficiency of retail banks via analysing indicators i.e. CAPEX and OPEX indicators increasing quarterly efficiency by 10%.