A sabbatical proved life-changing for Katharine Moss — not because she travelled the world, but because it allowed her to stay at home.

She was in mid-career as a high-flying accountant, working in Mazars’ corporate assurance in London, before being promoted to partner in Oxford in 1996.

Four years later, her life changed forever when her son Harry, now eight, was born with cerebral palsy.

The recent death of Ivan Cameron has brought home to everyone the difficulties faced by parents of a disabled child.

As a single parent, at first Ms Moss felt she had no choice but to work full-time.

But eight years later, having met a new man, she felt she needed to take time out to spend more time with Harry, who needs physiotherapy, educational psychology, dietary expertise and speech and language therapy to help with communication and swallowing.

“He also needs wheelchair services and orthopaedic advice because he has to wear leg splints,” she said.

“Navigating Harry’s world has always been tricky. I wanted to investigate it more thoroughly to refine fundamental services and treatments, and ensure that they remained on track.

“For me, this would be impossible to achieve while working full-time.”

She discussed her position with Mazar’s UK senior partner, David Evans. Recognising her contribution and loyalty, he suggested a year-long sabbatical.

Now she is back at work, delighted with the benefits.

“The results of everyone’s efforts are fantastic. A year on, he can express himself to a much greater degree and has much more independence.

“He is signing, his vocabulary has come on in leaps and bounds, he clearly understands enormous amounts of information and loves nursery rhymes.”

She also used her year out volunteering to sit on an audit committee for a national disability charity as a non-trustee, and also volunteered her financial skills to a smaller overseas Aids charity, as a trustee.

“I am acutely conscious of the UK’s relative wealth compared to other parts of the world, and I wanted to put something back.”

Knowing that she could not return to the same role without compromising Harry and her voluntary work, she asked Mazars to engineer a flexible solution.

She is now fulfilling a role as Mazars’ national charity specialist, working from Milton Keynes, Oxford and London, and feels that — far from stunting her career — tailoring her business role to accommodate family and voluntary work is benefiting the company and Mazars’ clients.

She is now on a mission to spread the word about flexible working.

“To successfully achieve flexible working it is imperative to tailor a role that meets the needs of all parties.

“Employees in need of more flexibility should approach their employers with their current challenges and creative, workable solutions. It is important to realise that large organisations are essentially made up of small teams.

“If you have a team of ten and one person wants to work part-time, how will it affect their colleagues. Who will pick up the extra work?

“On a wider scale, should it force the employer to change their business model? Flexibility is vital to retain talent within your teams, but everyone involved needs a practical outlook.”

She added: “Sometimes flexibility is simple, for example, working four longer days rather than five within office hours.”

And she herself has benefited with a different attitude to life.

“Before my sabbatical, I was permanently in fifth gear, would sometimes make rushed personal choices, and it used to take a long time to wind down during annual leave.

“Now I can shift between high and low gears quickly, which is important when you are in work mode one minute, parent mode the next and a volunteer the next.

She feels everyone wins from her improved sense of proportion and balance.

“Although there will always be unavoidable bursts of pressure, I am always accessible to clients and family.”

o Contact: Mazars, 01865 722744