Member Article

New apprentice at Baldwin McCranor

A Coventry accountancy firm has marked its ten-year relationship with the sub-region’s leading training provider by taking on another apprentice.

Trainee accountant Sophie Brough has been placed at Baldwin McCranor in Binley Road by CWT Chamber Training – the sixth apprentice to have joined the firm over the last decade.

Nineteen-year-old Sophie from Leamington is currently studying for Association of Accounting Technician’s (AAT) level four exams after passing level three last year.

Baldwin McCranor has an excellent record of recruiting apprentices with Matthew Allen (21) from Nuneaton presently training for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants exams which former apprentices Rebecca Lewis (25) from Leamington and Nick Harrison (24) from Bedworth have already passed to become qualified accountants.

Mike Flynn, associate director at Baldwin McCranor, said all their apprentices had completed their AAT exams with CWT Chamber Training which involved going to the organisation’s premises in St Nicholas Street one day each week.

“The standard of apprentices supplied by CWT Chamber Training has been excellent and we have created a really good relationship with them because of the strength and quality of their training,” he said.

“The tuition we supply augments the education supplied by CWT Chamber Training and they re-enforce what we do so together it works very well.

“We are really pleased to have continued our apprentices’ professional development after their training by offering them opportunities to build their careers further in the accountancy profession.”

Karen Devany, training advisor at CWT Chamber Training, said apprentices bring fresh new talent and ideas to a business while companies can mould the person they are training from a young age to their own standards.

“Companies can reap the rewards of the return in their investment from apprentices and this is particularly true in accountancy where they tend to stay with the company after completing their training,” she said. “The key is to match the right person to the right company.

“We have built-up a good relationship with Mike Flynn at Baldwin McCranor over the last ten years. They have been pleased with the standard of the apprentices we have provided and they have kept coming back to us.

“Apprenticeships are a great alternative to university which some people might not be aware of because we support them through their training and securing their qualifications.

“With accountancy companies that I have seen over the last ten years in this area, they originally wanted graduates but now they are taking on A-level students with good grades and are willing to support them through their AAT courses.

“Apprenticeships are vocational since they give young people the opportunity to learn while working in a professional environment and gaining valuable work skills.”

Baldwins Accountants is one of the region’s largest, independent family-owned accountancy firms with eight offices across the Midlands and specialises in accountancy and business advisory services including corporate finance and specialist tax advice to all businesses from start-ups to mature, across a broad range of business sectors.

PICTURE CAPTION: Back, from the left, Baldwin McCranor’s Mike Flynn, Nick Harrison, Matthew Allen with, front, from the left, Sophie Brough and Rebecca Lewis and Karen Devany from CWT Chamber Training

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michelle Wilson .