Hear from organisations about the benefits of offering ACCA apprenticeships
- RSA Group
- Ascendant Partners Limited
- Kreston Reeves
They’ve been working with ACCA to provide more apprenticeships to future talent, and here’s why they chose ACCA Apprenticeships over their competitors.
What were the main reasons for choosing to train apprentices?
We had never offered apprenticeships prior to the levy implementation, so when that came into play, we decided it was time. We often bring in contractors to help fill resourcing gaps, but we wanted to find a more sustainable and long-term solution to bringing in fresh and new talent to our business. If you continue to do the same thing over and over, you’ll get the same results, so we knew a change was essential. It also meant we could help early and emerging talent see the potential in accountancy, and a career in financial services, we have been able to grow and develop them resulting in their loyalty, so why wouldn’t we?
What value do apprenticeships add to your business?
We started small, with our first cohort being 16 college leavers, who soon enough flourished and created a big impact in our offices. Fast forward to the here and now where we have over 300 apprentices, across all our different business functions. When our first cohort arrived, we noticed a huge shift in our office’s motivation as they were watching these apprentices strive to be their best, and complete qualifications quickly, our teams were motivated to stand up and work smarter, and some even start apprenticeships themselves.
What were your perceptions of apprenticeships, and have they changed?
We have seen a huge shift across the organisation in their perceptions, from what they used to know apprenticeships as. In the past, many of our people viewed them as labour-based programmes for 16-24-year olds looking to start in trades such as plumbing and carpentry. Many perceived these young people weren’t ready for university level programmes and potentially didn’t have the academic abilities to pursue them. But that’s all changed. After seeing how hard our apprentices work, the ideas and innovation they bring to our business coupled with their professionalism and desire to excel we believe that apprenticeships absolutely have a place in professional services.
Why should other firms consider ACCA Apprenticeship programmes?
We have spent a lot of time building and developing our apprenticeships provision, knowing there are a lot of financial incentives from the government for businesses that recruit apprentices also helped fund our plans to recruit more. But ultimately, we firmly believe that growing your own talent from the bottom up builds a stronger and diverse workforce, whilst future proofing your organisations for generations to come. We chose to go with ACCA as a training partner due to the support and accolades plus the in-depth training they provide. Any challenges we’ve faced have been promptly addressed as they’ve been at the other end of the phone ready and waiting to help.
They’ve been open and operating for five years, and their experienced team strive to provide the best possible service to all their clients. They’re sharing how they’ve grown with ACCA apprenticeships, and why they think they’re important.
What prompted you to start thinking about offering apprenticeships?
Before Ascendant Partners Limited was formed, we had a practice that had been operating for 25 years. For many years, we had taken on people to train as accountants, so the switch to apprenticeships seemed obvious. One of the main attractions was the saving in costs for training. Apprenticeships were originally 90% supported, but now it’s raised to 95%. We used to pay for training throughout their whole career, but what we pay now is a lot less.
How important are ACCA apprenticeship programmes in building your future?
Ascendant Partners Limited has a total of 10 employees, four of which are apprentices, so we’re fairly small. When you have high quality people, you can provide high quality services. But to do that, you need to nurture a culture, because that will help you to nurture your clients. With ACCA’s help, we’ve been able to find talented people to join us and provide a high level of service for our clients. This is perfect not just short term, but long term too. As a small business, structure is important to us. ACCA’s structured programmes give me the reassurance that the quality of training is high, and the tuition provider is the same. That’s why ACCA stood out among the rest – the qualification is set up in a more structured, efficient and flexible way.
How did ACCA support you?
ACCA were incredibly helpful throughout the whole process, and still are. Initially we sent out job ads to be featured on their job board. These job adverts were being seen by people from across the whole world – and they were applying too. We also have a direct contact at ACCA, who has helped us through every step, and calmed any concerns that have arisen. Their support and services have helped us see a sharp increase in success.
What do you now wish you’d know at the start of your journey?
How easy and simple the process is. I thought apprenticeships were really complicated and tricky to manage, but with ACCA, it’s so simple. Their training is a much better defined monitored and controlled approach to my previous experiences.
As a mid-tier firm, their purpose is to guide their clients, colleagues and communities to a brighter future, each and every day. As a part of that, they believe that training is fundamental, and an important part to their succession plan. They’re sharing how they’ve found the ACCA apprentice experience, and why more people should consider partnering with ACCA.
What were the main reasons for choosing to train apprentices?
For us, training is at the heart of what we do. When we bring in fresh apprentice and graduate talent, they become an important part of our succession plans, and we work to help them grow to hold senior positions and, in some cases, Partner. It’s important to understand that when you grow your own people, they grow with the firm, while keeping the respect of the staff and clients.
How appealing is the ACCA apprenticeship, as a way of developing and attracting your finance talent?
It’s very appealing. We’ve found that students will see the ACCA name and apply based on that. Of course, we explain that this is part of a wider programme that we offer, that develops the knowledge skills and behaviours they need to become a trusted business advisor but the ACCA qualification is a particularly appealing element of our proposition. More and more students are choosing to not go to university because of the costs, and they want to do apprenticeships instead – to learn and earn with no university debts. But, they still see apprenticeships as being manual labour roles, not accountants. That’s where ACCA come in.
Why should other firms consider ACCA Apprenticeship programmes?
Having faces you can trust and recognise is important. If you can build relationships with organisations throughout the years that follow, you’ll find that your apprentices and your clients’ team grow their careers together. They build a level of trust with one another, and the client may stay longer as a result, because it’s a familiar face. Training with ACCA means that we have a solid structure and high quality content to train our apprentices, to help them grow in their roles. We’re invested in our apprentices, and with the help of ACCA, we’re able to help shape and train them to have the skills they need to thrive, and so much more.