Member Article

Bury Grammar School boys reach national business final

Business-savvy students from Bury Grammar School Boys beat off competition from 17 other local teams to win the South Manchester heat of the National Business and Accounting competition, BASE.

The competition was run by the Manchester branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (England and Wales) known as the ICAEW.

Bury Grammar School Boys impressed the judges and will go on to represent South Manchester at the national final which takes place in Birmingham in June. Manchester Grammar school finished as runners-up. This was one of 46 heats attracting over 3,000 students in more than 580 competing teams nationwide.

BASE links schools, students and employers to develop employability skills and provide an insight into what a career in accountancy, business and finance might be like. Assuming the role of Chartered Accountants, the students had two hours to analyse a business situation, before presenting their ideas to a panel of top business professionals.

Head Judge, Colin Gillespie, President of ICAEW Chartered Accountants Manchester said: “In the presentations we looked for ethical and financial data to support each team’s recommendations. Bury Grammar School Boys demonstrated excellent teamwork and clear thinking based on careful analysis in delivering a most comprehensive recommendation.

“The team from Manchester Grammar came a very close second, and all 18 teams can be rightly proud of the manner in which they successfully addressed a very challenging business scenario in a tight timeframe.”

Melanie Christie, ICAEW Regional Director North West, said: “We were really impressed with the team’s performance and shrewd thinking. These budding business advisers looked beyond the numbers and they showed they had an excellent instinct for business and ethics in order to give well-rounded advice. I hope I’ll be seeing more of these young people in leading roles in the future.”

She continued: “As increasing numbers of students are entering the chartered accountancy profession via a non-graduate route, this is a good early introduction.”

The BASE competition was supported by local firms including Astra Zeneca, PwC, Crowe Clark Whitehill, Hurst, KPMG, Beever & Struthers and Deloitte who provided professional mentors and judges.

For further information about BASE and how to participate please visit icaew.com/base.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by James Welton .