A Leicestershire school leaver and a clutch of graduates have secured places on the trainee programme at the Leicester office of top 10 business and financial advisory firm Grant Thornton UK LLP.
A key part of the firm’s national strategy to take on 77 school leavers in 2016 and 2017, school leaver Elise Turner, and graduates Ben Lovell, Umair Desai, Jordain Smith, Eloise Horton, and Hassan Aftab, have joined the firm’s Tax and Audit teams at Grant Thornton’s East Midlands regional office.
Grant Thornton has reported an increase of 47% in applications for its School Leavers programme, which offers young people a route into accountancy without the need to attend university.
The firm has also released analysis* demonstrating that the changes it has made to its selection processes for its school leaver and graduate trainee programmes, including the removal of academic barriers to entry, and importantly found that employees who wouldn’t have previously met academic hurdles** are performing just as strongly as those who did.
One of the successful candidates is school leaver Elise Turner, who has just finished her A-Levels, studying at Ashby School, Ashby de la Zouche. She said: “As I left college, I felt ready for work rather than going down the university route. I know Grant Thornton has one of the best school leaver programmes and it has been an ambition of mine to join the firm.”
Also joining the 2016 trainee programme is Cardiff University graduate Eloise Horton, who did an internship at the firm’s Leicester office last summer: “I really enjoyed the experience as an intern over the six weeks last summer, so it was an easy choice deciding where to start my career,” she said. “Grant Thornton’s Talent 16 orientation event was a vibrant, welcoming experience.”
Ben Lovell has just completed a Biology degree at Newcastle University. He explained: “I wanted to take a different direction to the subject I studied at university, so I took a chance at applying for a role at Grant Thornton. The firm has a really open culture and they’ve welcomed my background; I feel a great vibe from just the few days since I’ve joined.”
Grant Thornton’s recruitment, school leavers and trainee programme is led in Leicester by Associate Director Tom Copson, who himself has worked his way up instead of going to university. He explains:
“17% of Grant Thornton’s intake for school leaver and graduate programmes in 2016 would have been previously unable to apply based on academic criteria, including secondary school performance and degree classification.
“As well as flexible academic entry, Grant Thornton takes several other measures aimed at increasing the diversity of its intake. The firm has also removed the emphasis on relevant work experience and extra-curricular achievements, invested in providing one-to-one coaching calls for all candidates before and after first round interviews, and created online communities for candidates to encourage peer-to-peer networking.”
Tom adds: “Grant Thornton has given me incredible professional development opportunities and support to progress at the firm. University is only one route into professional services, and as a firm, Grant Thornton is leading the way in removing traditional barriers to entry.”
Grant Thornton UK LLP has offered 77 places on its School Leavers Programme. This year, Grant Thornton saw a 47% increase in applications for the programme, with trainees joining the firm across 20 different office locations.
Grant Thornton has its East Midlands office in Leicester, where it has approximately 160 staff providing business and financial advice across Corporate and Personal Tax, audit and assurance, employer solutions, corporate finance, and sustainability, to organisations across the East Midlands.
