Member Article

Investing in the accountants of the future – Baldwins strengthens its apprenticeship offering

A leading North East-based accountancy and business advisory firm has cemented its commitment to invest in the region’s young professionals by strengthening its apprenticeship offering.

Baldwins, a CogitalGroup company, has taken on 24 apprentices in the last year, and plans to further enhance its recruitment programme for accountancy apprenticeships ahead of its next intake in September.

With ambitious growth plans in the North East and across the country, Baldwins aims to offer full-time roles to those who complete their apprenticeship.

Nationally the firm is training 265 apprentices, giving young people the opportunity to work in a diverse range of areas and the chance to pursue a specialism, including taxation, corporate finance and forensic accounting.

Regional managing partner at Baldwins Dawn Walton said: “We believe it is vitally important to invest in the development of young talent and to offer the opportunity to study towards a professional qualification while gaining invaluable workplace experience.

“As a former apprentice myself, I know from personal experience that the combination of study and hands-on experience offers apprentices a significant advantage and I understand the importance of nurturing young talent so that they can shape their career in accountancy.”

Understanding that today’s apprentices could be future leaders, the team at Baldwins are passionate about investing in young people, passing on valuable knowledge and skills to build a foundation for them to develop a successful career.

Recently awarded the Judges’ Recognition Award at the Northern Skills Group Awards, 21-year-old Joe Chan is currently undertaking his five-year apprenticeship at Baldwins’ Seaton Burn office and aims to gain his AAT accounting qualification in 2021.

His role at Baldwins sees him manage his own VAT portfolio, ensuring that VAT returns are prepared and submitted on time, using a variety of cloud-based software. He also assists with accounts preparation, answering client queries, raising invoices and much more.

The former King Edward VI School, Morpeth, student said: “It feels great to be recognised by Northern Skills Group for the work I am doing. I was grateful just to be nominated by my managers and for them taking the time to put my name forward for an award.

“I am grateful to Baldwins for the opportunities that have been given to me, and I would say to anyone considering an apprenticeship to go for it, as the experience you gain while training is invaluable.”

Andrew Little, regional managing partner at Baldwins, said: “We are incredibly proud of Joe and his achievements. He and our other apprentices are doing some fantastic work and are really progressing, developing the vital skills needed to become an accountant.

“Baldwins is a constantly evolving company and with plans to widen our network, we will be looking to recruit more staff and apprentices in the coming months to facilitate our growth.

“We are thrilled to introduce young professionals into the industry and help train future leaders.”

David Whitson-Black, head of learning and development at Baldwins, added: “We are proud to offer these apprenticeships to school leavers. They are a great alternative to university for those who want to start their careers straight away.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Harvey & Hugo .