Martin Blackburn joined the Isle of Man Civil Service in 1984 as a Clerical Officer in Treasury’s Income Tax Division, a year later he was appointed Trainee Accountant in Treasury’s Finance Division whilst studying by block release at Liverpool Polytechnic (now Liverpool John Moore’s University), during this training period Martin undertook secondments in each of the Divisions of the Treasury.
Martin became a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians in 1988 and then left the Civil Service in March 1991 to join Douglas Corporation as Assistant Borough Treasurer (Audit and Technical) and was awarded Fellowship of the Association of Accounting Technicians in 1995.
Whilst at Douglas Corporation he became the General Manager, Villa Marina and Corporate Services Officer. Under the terms of the Villa Marina Act 1999, Martin and the rest of the Villa staff transferred to the Department of Tourism.
He continued to work at the Villa Marina until his appointment as a Civil Servant once again in June 2001, this time on the staff of the Department of Home Affairs as Emergency Planning Officer and head of the Island’s Civil Defence Corps, taking up his new post shortly before the Villa Marina closed for its major refurbishment.
Martin was awarded membership of the Business Continuity Institute and was made a Fellow of the Emergency Planning Society for his contribution to Emergency Planning but a restructuring at the Department of Home Affairs ended Martin’s role as Emergency Planning Officer (and his 27 year involvement with the Island’s Civil Defence Corps) in April 2011 whereupon he was appointed to his current post as Director of Finance and Central Services at the General Registry.
Three years of distance learning and professional examinations led to his election as a full member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in December 2013, which means he can now use the designation of “Chartered Public Finance Accountant”.
In his spare time, Martin is Director of Operations for St John Ambulance on the Isle of Man.
