Here you will find the news releases from Access Accountancy.
Please click on the sections below to read the full story.
Please click on the sections below to read the full story.
Nov '21 - Access Accountancy responds to 2021 Social Mobility Employer Index
25 November 2021
The 2021 Social Mobility Employer Index has been released, with several Access Accountancy signatories on the list.
Responding to its release, Sharon Spice, Access Accountancy Chair, said: “It’s great to see that several accountancy firms have been recognised by the Social Mobility Employer Index for their efforts to try and increase socioeconomic diversity. Accountancy is a profession for everyone, no matter their background, and having a diverse workforce benefits organisations by giving them a wider pool of experience and knowledge to draw from. Access Accountancy will continue working with all our member organisations, and those yet to join, to ensure accountancy is welcoming to people from all backgrounds and try to get even more firms on the list next year."
The 2021 Social Mobility Employer Index has been released, with several Access Accountancy signatories on the list.
Responding to its release, Sharon Spice, Access Accountancy Chair, said: “It’s great to see that several accountancy firms have been recognised by the Social Mobility Employer Index for their efforts to try and increase socioeconomic diversity. Accountancy is a profession for everyone, no matter their background, and having a diverse workforce benefits organisations by giving them a wider pool of experience and knowledge to draw from. Access Accountancy will continue working with all our member organisations, and those yet to join, to ensure accountancy is welcoming to people from all backgrounds and try to get even more firms on the list next year."
Feb '22 - Introducing our latest signatories
This month, we are delighted to welcome our three new signatories, Abcam, Saffery Champness and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust. Here, we meet the organisations and hear their plans for the year ahead.
First up, Abcam’s Benjamin Holt, Finance Director and Nikki Scarr, Global Head of HR join us.
Hi both! Please tell us a bit more about what Abcam does?
Nikki: Our name comes from “Antibody” and “Cambridge”. We were founded in 1998 and have been on a mission ever since to support life scientists globally by identifying, developing, and distributing high-quality biological reagents and tools critical to research, drug discovery and diagnostics.
Benjamin: I am proud to work for a life sciences company that is helping to better understand, diagnose and potentially treat diseases and therefore positively impacting society. We have benefited from several years of rapid growth and are listed on both the Alternative Investment Market in London and Nasdaq in New York.
Why did Abcam join Access Accountancy?
Benjamin: We want to make our finance team at Abcam representative of the socio-economic demographic of wider society, and that is very aligned with the goals of Access Accountancy. The ICAEW team will really help us understand how we are tracking towards this goal via benchmarking and practical advice. We hope our work experience opportunities will give under-represented talent a first step into a career in finance.
Any reason why you joined Access Accountancy now?
Benjamin: We are a finance team of c. 100 globally and the first corporate to join Access Accountancy. We look forward to collaborating with and learning from fellow signatories who have been Access Accountancy participants for several years.
How is Abcam working towards socioeconomic representation?
Nikki: We have been working with organisations to provide opportunities for those from less-privileged backgrounds for several years with outreach, lab placements and work experience. However, to date this has been focussed mainly on STEM. We’re now looking to expand this outside of the lab and showcase the variety of careers available in life sciences where you can have an impact on our mission without being at the bench.
In Nov 2020 we launched our first Social Mobility ERG, establishing groups in EMEA, US and APAC to measure social mobility at Abcam, create a diverse talent pool for us and the wider life sciences community, open doors for those less privileged and influence other organisations to do the same.
We’re proud that we’re already having an impact and seeing those students who have benefited from these opportunities take their first step into their careers, our colleagues see so many benefits from being involved too but we know we can do more.
What are you hoping to get out of your first year of involvement with Access Accountancy?
Benjamin: We’re looking forward to hosting our first work experience participants around Easter 2022. We hope to offer an insight into what a career in Finance looks like and equip participants with practical skills including CV writing, interview workshops and time management.
Do you have any plans or initiatives that you hope to launch in the future or that you recently launched to improve socio economic representation within your organisation?
Nikki: We’re running our first Diversity & Inclusion census in January 2022 and are excited to better understand the diversity of our global workforce, and how we can best benefit from various talents and perspectives. We’ll be using these results to inform next year’s priorities. We will expand our work experience and outreach, including through Access Accountancy. We’re looking forward to gaining knowledge from other organisations on the Progression Working Group and working towards levelling the playing field for careers in Finance together.
Ian Williams, Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition at Saffery Champness is next to take the hot seat.
Hi Ian, how would you describe what Saffery Champness does?
Ian: We are a top 20 firm of Chartered Accountants and Registered Fiduciaries whose concept of service is to solve problems, take advantage of opportunities and turn advice into action.
For over 160 years we have provided advice to our clients and, thanks to our distinctive partnership culture, we work together to deliver the very best for them.
Why have your organisation decided to join Access Accountancy?
Ian: As a Top employer, Certified Top Employers Search (top-employers.com)and accredited Investors in People organisation, we are really keen to build on the work we are doing in the profession. We are also members of the institute of student employers. Access Accountancy was a next step for us. We have been aware of Access Accountancy through various relationships we have with other accountancy firms and we felt that this was the right time to join. As a firm, our culture has always been very inclusive but we felt this was the right time to commit our time to Access Accountancy.
Any success stories that you’d like to share?
Ian: Jamie Lane heads up our school leaver programme. He is now a Partner in our Bournemouth office, and joined the accountancy profession as a school leaver.
Jamie says: “Having joined the accountancy profession as a school leaver in 2003, I am passionate about the great benefits of recruiting school leavers, both from the employee and employer perspective. I joined Saffery nearly three years ago as a partner, and have the benefit of leading our internal group which is focused on improving school leaver recruitment within the firm. We have made great strides in the last 18 months, focusing on changing internal attitudes, our recruitment processes, and most importantly attraction of great candidates which is key. The school leaver recruitment market is not as ‘mature’ as the graduate route at the moment, but you can already see this improving as more organisations change their historical recruitment attitudes.”
What are you hoping to get out of your first year of involvement with Access Accountancy?
We are hoping to make friends with other firms, learn new ideas and contribute to the Access Accountancy’s purpose in working towards everyone having an equal chance of accessing the accountancy profession. Our new four-year business plan is being prepared at the moment which will outline our 2022-2026 overall business strategy. Our commitment to Access Accountancy and its aims will undoubtedly be in this plan.
And finally, here is Dr Lore Lippman, Deputy Director of Finance at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.
How would you describe what your organisation does?
Dr Lore: We are an acute NHS Hospital with circa 3,000 staff.
Why have your organisation decided to join Access Accountancy?
Dr Lore: I think it is an important initiative which had not yet been taken up by the NHS Finance community. I think it is the right thing to do for us and it should help us build a pipeline of staff for the future.
What is the current situation within your organisation with regards to socioeconomic representation?
Dr Lore: As an NHS Trust we of course endeavour to represent society as a whole. In NHS Finance, we do the same but it is widely recognised that NHS Finance in particular is somewhat skewed in terms of gender balance once one looks at the very top (Board) positions. As an employer, we have also signed up to the Kickstart Programme in Finance so we are trying to address social mobility challenges through AA and the Kickstart Programme.
What are you hoping to get out of your first year of involvement with Access Accountancy?
Dr Lore: To be able to showcase this programme in the wider NHS Finance community and to encourage more organisations to offer this work experience. I was invited to speak at the recent NHS Finance Inclusion conference about work experience pilot we had just completed.
Do you have any plans or initiatives that you hope to launch in the future or that you recently launched to improve socio economic representation within your organisation?
Dr Lore: We are currently hosting our first Kickstart student in Finance and we are planning the next round of AA work experience, ideally with other NHS hospitals in the East of England region.
First up, Abcam’s Benjamin Holt, Finance Director and Nikki Scarr, Global Head of HR join us.
Hi both! Please tell us a bit more about what Abcam does?
Nikki: Our name comes from “Antibody” and “Cambridge”. We were founded in 1998 and have been on a mission ever since to support life scientists globally by identifying, developing, and distributing high-quality biological reagents and tools critical to research, drug discovery and diagnostics.
Benjamin: I am proud to work for a life sciences company that is helping to better understand, diagnose and potentially treat diseases and therefore positively impacting society. We have benefited from several years of rapid growth and are listed on both the Alternative Investment Market in London and Nasdaq in New York.
Why did Abcam join Access Accountancy?
Benjamin: We want to make our finance team at Abcam representative of the socio-economic demographic of wider society, and that is very aligned with the goals of Access Accountancy. The ICAEW team will really help us understand how we are tracking towards this goal via benchmarking and practical advice. We hope our work experience opportunities will give under-represented talent a first step into a career in finance.
Any reason why you joined Access Accountancy now?
Benjamin: We are a finance team of c. 100 globally and the first corporate to join Access Accountancy. We look forward to collaborating with and learning from fellow signatories who have been Access Accountancy participants for several years.
How is Abcam working towards socioeconomic representation?
Nikki: We have been working with organisations to provide opportunities for those from less-privileged backgrounds for several years with outreach, lab placements and work experience. However, to date this has been focussed mainly on STEM. We’re now looking to expand this outside of the lab and showcase the variety of careers available in life sciences where you can have an impact on our mission without being at the bench.
In Nov 2020 we launched our first Social Mobility ERG, establishing groups in EMEA, US and APAC to measure social mobility at Abcam, create a diverse talent pool for us and the wider life sciences community, open doors for those less privileged and influence other organisations to do the same.
We’re proud that we’re already having an impact and seeing those students who have benefited from these opportunities take their first step into their careers, our colleagues see so many benefits from being involved too but we know we can do more.
What are you hoping to get out of your first year of involvement with Access Accountancy?
Benjamin: We’re looking forward to hosting our first work experience participants around Easter 2022. We hope to offer an insight into what a career in Finance looks like and equip participants with practical skills including CV writing, interview workshops and time management.
Do you have any plans or initiatives that you hope to launch in the future or that you recently launched to improve socio economic representation within your organisation?
Nikki: We’re running our first Diversity & Inclusion census in January 2022 and are excited to better understand the diversity of our global workforce, and how we can best benefit from various talents and perspectives. We’ll be using these results to inform next year’s priorities. We will expand our work experience and outreach, including through Access Accountancy. We’re looking forward to gaining knowledge from other organisations on the Progression Working Group and working towards levelling the playing field for careers in Finance together.
Ian Williams, Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition at Saffery Champness is next to take the hot seat.
Hi Ian, how would you describe what Saffery Champness does?
Ian: We are a top 20 firm of Chartered Accountants and Registered Fiduciaries whose concept of service is to solve problems, take advantage of opportunities and turn advice into action.
For over 160 years we have provided advice to our clients and, thanks to our distinctive partnership culture, we work together to deliver the very best for them.
Why have your organisation decided to join Access Accountancy?
Ian: As a Top employer, Certified Top Employers Search (top-employers.com)and accredited Investors in People organisation, we are really keen to build on the work we are doing in the profession. We are also members of the institute of student employers. Access Accountancy was a next step for us. We have been aware of Access Accountancy through various relationships we have with other accountancy firms and we felt that this was the right time to join. As a firm, our culture has always been very inclusive but we felt this was the right time to commit our time to Access Accountancy.
Any success stories that you’d like to share?
Ian: Jamie Lane heads up our school leaver programme. He is now a Partner in our Bournemouth office, and joined the accountancy profession as a school leaver.
Jamie says: “Having joined the accountancy profession as a school leaver in 2003, I am passionate about the great benefits of recruiting school leavers, both from the employee and employer perspective. I joined Saffery nearly three years ago as a partner, and have the benefit of leading our internal group which is focused on improving school leaver recruitment within the firm. We have made great strides in the last 18 months, focusing on changing internal attitudes, our recruitment processes, and most importantly attraction of great candidates which is key. The school leaver recruitment market is not as ‘mature’ as the graduate route at the moment, but you can already see this improving as more organisations change their historical recruitment attitudes.”
What are you hoping to get out of your first year of involvement with Access Accountancy?
We are hoping to make friends with other firms, learn new ideas and contribute to the Access Accountancy’s purpose in working towards everyone having an equal chance of accessing the accountancy profession. Our new four-year business plan is being prepared at the moment which will outline our 2022-2026 overall business strategy. Our commitment to Access Accountancy and its aims will undoubtedly be in this plan.
And finally, here is Dr Lore Lippman, Deputy Director of Finance at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.
How would you describe what your organisation does?
Dr Lore: We are an acute NHS Hospital with circa 3,000 staff.
Why have your organisation decided to join Access Accountancy?
Dr Lore: I think it is an important initiative which had not yet been taken up by the NHS Finance community. I think it is the right thing to do for us and it should help us build a pipeline of staff for the future.
What is the current situation within your organisation with regards to socioeconomic representation?
Dr Lore: As an NHS Trust we of course endeavour to represent society as a whole. In NHS Finance, we do the same but it is widely recognised that NHS Finance in particular is somewhat skewed in terms of gender balance once one looks at the very top (Board) positions. As an employer, we have also signed up to the Kickstart Programme in Finance so we are trying to address social mobility challenges through AA and the Kickstart Programme.
What are you hoping to get out of your first year of involvement with Access Accountancy?
Dr Lore: To be able to showcase this programme in the wider NHS Finance community and to encourage more organisations to offer this work experience. I was invited to speak at the recent NHS Finance Inclusion conference about work experience pilot we had just completed.
Do you have any plans or initiatives that you hope to launch in the future or that you recently launched to improve socio economic representation within your organisation?
Dr Lore: We are currently hosting our first Kickstart student in Finance and we are planning the next round of AA work experience, ideally with other NHS hospitals in the East of England region.
May '22 - An interview with david mcintosh of kpmg, a work experience alumni
David was brought up in Prestwick and comes from a lower socio-economic background (SEB). Growing up he faced many problems stemming from his family’s financial situation, relying on free school meals throughout his time at school.
At the age of 11, he first discovered an interest in accountancy, when he used his entrepreneurial spirit to start a small confectionary business, baking fudge, macaroons and other sweets and selling them to his friends and peers at school.
One day, when counting his takings for the day, his uncle, who worked in a bank and was his only representation of a professional, remarked “you’re good at counting money, you could be an accountant,” - from this he saw accountancy as a future career path and something which would have the potential to help relieve the financial pressures both on himself and his parents.
David subsequently moved onto high school, studying subjects like business and math, and even doing Open University during his last year of school with the aim of finding a job in an accountancy firm, however with his time in school coming to an end he’d tried all local accountancy firms and hadn’t been able to secure a role.
He discussed his predicament with a friend and explained his situation with regards to being on free school meals and coming from a low SEB, something he’d previously not felt comfortable sharing with his peers. From this conversation, it transpired that his friend had been on an Access Accountancy programme just a year before and it was put to him that he should consider applying for one too – something he was successful in doing.
At the age of 16 he applied and was selected for the KPMG Discovery Programme, visiting the KPMG offices in Canary Wharf. He quickly realised that his perception of accountancy that had built up over the years, as a profession only accessible for the middle class and well off – was wrong, and that a career in accountancy could be for anyone. He grew his network, meeting future colleagues and partners in different parts of the business and even had the chance to shadow a senior manager in the Emerging Giants team which focussed on fast tech growth start-ups.
Soon after undertaking the discovery programme, he applied for the KPMG 360 programme. He narrowly missed out on his first application but was successful the following year.
Aside from the other benefits of the scheme, the main attraction to applying was to be able to better himself, afford some of the things he’d aspired to be able to purchase and support his mum financially.
During his first week at KPMG, he reached out to someone working in Inclusion Diversity and Equity (IDE) and said that he was interested in working in social economic mobility. He was soon working with the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) to provide mentoring support for people at university on the Aspiring Professionals Programme, many of whom subsequently received offers onto the KPMG graduate schemes.
Though finding this work rewarding, after two years he wanted to think bigger. This desire was partly triggered by a conversation with a more senior colleague who expressed that they didn’t even know what socioeconomic background meant, despite KPMG as a firm often leading in this space, through initiatives such as signing up to the Living Wage foundation and being one of the first firms to publish socio economic workforce representation data.
He wondered whether there was a disconnect between these often London-led initiatives and the understanding of senior colleagues in regional offices like Glasgow and thought about how he could start a wider conversation about social mobility within the firm.
This led him to establishing Scotland’s KPMG Social Mobility Network in 2019. Working with the Social Mobility Foundation, 75 volunteers across Scotland were paired with 75 people from low socio economic backgrounds to provide mentoring support.
In 2020, David was hit by tragedy when his mum sadly passed away. This triggered a period of self-reflection and led him to think more about what he wanted to do in future. Part of his reason for pursuing a career in accountancy in the first place was about wanting to provide for his mum but now he decided he wanted to go further on doing good for others. This led him to look towards becoming a public sector management consultant within KPMG, trying to improve the landscape within some of the systems and organisations that his family relied on growing up including the NHS and the benefits system. At the same time as this, he also realised he wanted to champion social mobility even further both internally within the firm and externally.
This led to him creating his own Podcast entitled “Development by David” which was birthed from the idea that he had only limited role models growing up and so had instead sought out digital role models by reading books and listening to podcasts. His experience of this was that they were often very highly geared and not inclusive for people who weren’t already well read with good levels of commercial understanding, so his podcast has been designed to be inclusive for all people, regardless of background. Since its launch he has spoken to guests ranging from Joe Foster, the founder of Reebok to Andy King of Fyre Festival fame. The podcast is now played in 45 countries worldwide.
He also did a firm-wide event called “This is Me” presenting to colleagues and talking frankly about his experience growing up from a lower socio-economic background. Through this and other conversations he realised that one of the biggest barriers in social mobility is concealment – in the way that you can often see gender, race and other minorities you can’t see whether someone is from a lower socio-economic background. These conversations then led him to appearing at part of an all-firm event to celebrate the firms 150th birthday and speaking to her majesty the queen and sharing his story with her.
Throughout all of this, KPMG had been considering launching a UK-wide social mobility network but previously weren’t aware of everything that was being pioneered by David in Scotland, until he shared his story at the firm-wide event with the Queen. From this, he was approached by the IDE team who provided encouragement and support in launching a UK-wide Social Mobility Network within the firm with David as co-chair.
This network was launched in July 2021 and has grown to have 30 committee members working across five different workstreams with over 600 members. The workstreams include an events programme which is developing a financial literacy bootcamp and an internal mentoring programme bringing junior members of staff into conversations with more senior colleagues, increasing the power of role modelling and awareness of other departments within the firm.
As the network continues to grow, David is now thinking about how to devolve the structure down to the regions so they can create their own regional partnerships and relationships akin to what he pioneered in Scotland.
In the future, David has a long-term goal of writing a book looking at how businesses and individuals can better tackle social mobility problems. He has also just featured on Business Insider’s 35 under 35 list.
At the age of 11, he first discovered an interest in accountancy, when he used his entrepreneurial spirit to start a small confectionary business, baking fudge, macaroons and other sweets and selling them to his friends and peers at school.
One day, when counting his takings for the day, his uncle, who worked in a bank and was his only representation of a professional, remarked “you’re good at counting money, you could be an accountant,” - from this he saw accountancy as a future career path and something which would have the potential to help relieve the financial pressures both on himself and his parents.
David subsequently moved onto high school, studying subjects like business and math, and even doing Open University during his last year of school with the aim of finding a job in an accountancy firm, however with his time in school coming to an end he’d tried all local accountancy firms and hadn’t been able to secure a role.
He discussed his predicament with a friend and explained his situation with regards to being on free school meals and coming from a low SEB, something he’d previously not felt comfortable sharing with his peers. From this conversation, it transpired that his friend had been on an Access Accountancy programme just a year before and it was put to him that he should consider applying for one too – something he was successful in doing.
At the age of 16 he applied and was selected for the KPMG Discovery Programme, visiting the KPMG offices in Canary Wharf. He quickly realised that his perception of accountancy that had built up over the years, as a profession only accessible for the middle class and well off – was wrong, and that a career in accountancy could be for anyone. He grew his network, meeting future colleagues and partners in different parts of the business and even had the chance to shadow a senior manager in the Emerging Giants team which focussed on fast tech growth start-ups.
Soon after undertaking the discovery programme, he applied for the KPMG 360 programme. He narrowly missed out on his first application but was successful the following year.
Aside from the other benefits of the scheme, the main attraction to applying was to be able to better himself, afford some of the things he’d aspired to be able to purchase and support his mum financially.
During his first week at KPMG, he reached out to someone working in Inclusion Diversity and Equity (IDE) and said that he was interested in working in social economic mobility. He was soon working with the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) to provide mentoring support for people at university on the Aspiring Professionals Programme, many of whom subsequently received offers onto the KPMG graduate schemes.
Though finding this work rewarding, after two years he wanted to think bigger. This desire was partly triggered by a conversation with a more senior colleague who expressed that they didn’t even know what socioeconomic background meant, despite KPMG as a firm often leading in this space, through initiatives such as signing up to the Living Wage foundation and being one of the first firms to publish socio economic workforce representation data.
He wondered whether there was a disconnect between these often London-led initiatives and the understanding of senior colleagues in regional offices like Glasgow and thought about how he could start a wider conversation about social mobility within the firm.
This led him to establishing Scotland’s KPMG Social Mobility Network in 2019. Working with the Social Mobility Foundation, 75 volunteers across Scotland were paired with 75 people from low socio economic backgrounds to provide mentoring support.
In 2020, David was hit by tragedy when his mum sadly passed away. This triggered a period of self-reflection and led him to think more about what he wanted to do in future. Part of his reason for pursuing a career in accountancy in the first place was about wanting to provide for his mum but now he decided he wanted to go further on doing good for others. This led him to look towards becoming a public sector management consultant within KPMG, trying to improve the landscape within some of the systems and organisations that his family relied on growing up including the NHS and the benefits system. At the same time as this, he also realised he wanted to champion social mobility even further both internally within the firm and externally.
This led to him creating his own Podcast entitled “Development by David” which was birthed from the idea that he had only limited role models growing up and so had instead sought out digital role models by reading books and listening to podcasts. His experience of this was that they were often very highly geared and not inclusive for people who weren’t already well read with good levels of commercial understanding, so his podcast has been designed to be inclusive for all people, regardless of background. Since its launch he has spoken to guests ranging from Joe Foster, the founder of Reebok to Andy King of Fyre Festival fame. The podcast is now played in 45 countries worldwide.
He also did a firm-wide event called “This is Me” presenting to colleagues and talking frankly about his experience growing up from a lower socio-economic background. Through this and other conversations he realised that one of the biggest barriers in social mobility is concealment – in the way that you can often see gender, race and other minorities you can’t see whether someone is from a lower socio-economic background. These conversations then led him to appearing at part of an all-firm event to celebrate the firms 150th birthday and speaking to her majesty the queen and sharing his story with her.
Throughout all of this, KPMG had been considering launching a UK-wide social mobility network but previously weren’t aware of everything that was being pioneered by David in Scotland, until he shared his story at the firm-wide event with the Queen. From this, he was approached by the IDE team who provided encouragement and support in launching a UK-wide Social Mobility Network within the firm with David as co-chair.
This network was launched in July 2021 and has grown to have 30 committee members working across five different workstreams with over 600 members. The workstreams include an events programme which is developing a financial literacy bootcamp and an internal mentoring programme bringing junior members of staff into conversations with more senior colleagues, increasing the power of role modelling and awareness of other departments within the firm.
As the network continues to grow, David is now thinking about how to devolve the structure down to the regions so they can create their own regional partnerships and relationships akin to what he pioneered in Scotland.
In the future, David has a long-term goal of writing a book looking at how businesses and individuals can better tackle social mobility problems. He has also just featured on Business Insider’s 35 under 35 list.
JUN '22 - ACCA BECOMES LATEST MEMBER OF ACCESS ACCOUNTANCY
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has become the latest organisation to join Access Accountancy.
Diversity and inclusion are a key part of ACCA’s core values. The organisation said it had been impressed with Access Accountancy’s strong focus on improving social mobility at businesses of all sizes across the accountancy profession.
Lorna Williamson, Early Careers Manager at ACCA, said:
“We’re delighted to continue our membership of Access Accountancy. With Access Accountancy’s focus on smaller firms, we believe we’ll be able to further achieve our goal of supporting SME accounting employers to embrace inclusion in their hiring practices and career paths, ensuring that accountancy can be a profession for anyone, regardless of their socio-economic background.”
Sharon Spice, chair of Access Accountancy, said:
“We’re delighted ACCA has become the latest signatory to Access Accountancy. We look forward to working closely with them in the coming months as we collectively focus on boosting access to and mobility within the profession.”
ACCA became the 27th member of Access Accountancy in March. It had previously been an Access Accountancy member but left in February 2020.
Diversity and inclusion are a key part of ACCA’s core values. The organisation said it had been impressed with Access Accountancy’s strong focus on improving social mobility at businesses of all sizes across the accountancy profession.
Lorna Williamson, Early Careers Manager at ACCA, said:
“We’re delighted to continue our membership of Access Accountancy. With Access Accountancy’s focus on smaller firms, we believe we’ll be able to further achieve our goal of supporting SME accounting employers to embrace inclusion in their hiring practices and career paths, ensuring that accountancy can be a profession for anyone, regardless of their socio-economic background.”
Sharon Spice, chair of Access Accountancy, said:
“We’re delighted ACCA has become the latest signatory to Access Accountancy. We look forward to working closely with them in the coming months as we collectively focus on boosting access to and mobility within the profession.”
ACCA became the 27th member of Access Accountancy in March. It had previously been an Access Accountancy member but left in February 2020.
jUN '22 - Access Accountancy pleased to support Social Mobility Awareness Day
Access Accountancy is pleased to support the first Social Mobility Awareness Day, which takes place today (Thursday 16 June 2022).
The initiative was set up to promote wider conversations about social mobility and to celebrate organisations committed to bringing about positive change.
The theme for 2022 is focused on asking ‘what is social mobility?’. The day’s organisers have encouraged people to share their experiences with social mobility, whether a personal journey or workplace initiative. It is hoped that sharing these experiences will create momentum for the movement, and inspire and encourage others to consider how they are going to put social mobility on their agenda.
Sharon Spice, Chair of Access Accountancy, said: “Our mission is to boost access to the profession, particularly for young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds who may not have thought about accountancy.
“We know there is more to do to make accountancy inclusive and diverse, and that’s why firms and organisations across the sector set up Access Accountancy and are taking action to drive change.
“We’re pleased to support Social Mobility Awareness Day, and we’ll continue to work with our members to create a profession which truly reflects the society it serves.”
The initiative was set up to promote wider conversations about social mobility and to celebrate organisations committed to bringing about positive change.
The theme for 2022 is focused on asking ‘what is social mobility?’. The day’s organisers have encouraged people to share their experiences with social mobility, whether a personal journey or workplace initiative. It is hoped that sharing these experiences will create momentum for the movement, and inspire and encourage others to consider how they are going to put social mobility on their agenda.
Sharon Spice, Chair of Access Accountancy, said: “Our mission is to boost access to the profession, particularly for young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds who may not have thought about accountancy.
“We know there is more to do to make accountancy inclusive and diverse, and that’s why firms and organisations across the sector set up Access Accountancy and are taking action to drive change.
“We’re pleased to support Social Mobility Awareness Day, and we’ll continue to work with our members to create a profession which truly reflects the society it serves.”
Nov '22 - Access Accountancy appoints Hazel Garvey as its new chair
Access Accountancy, has announced the appointment of Hazel Garvey, Managing Director, Education and Training, ICAEW, as its new chair. She takes over from Sharon Spice following her departure from ICAEW in September.
Access Accountancy works to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of accessing, and progressing within the accountancy profession based on merit, not background. Since being established in 2014, Access Accountancy has collaborated with over 26 organisations and professional bodies, to help improve access and progression to the accountancy profession. Nearly 5,000 work experience places have been offered to students that meet Access Accountancy’s criteria since 2015.
Hazel has over 30 years’ experience in the accountancy profession and has worked in practice and areas including recruitment, marketing, business development, as well as education and training.
Commenting on her appointment, Hazel Garvey said:
“The work of Access Accountancy is hugely important, so I’m delighted to become its new chair. We’re seeing that employers want to attract students from more diverse backgrounds but are sometimes struggling to recruit enough people to the profession. We want to make accountancy more attractive and accessible, especially given how transferable the skills are. What other qualification gives you the opportunity to work with so many businesses across so many different industries?
“I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to start my accountancy training as a school leaver, so my aim is to encourage more employers to join Access Accountancy and bring more students through the programme.
“I’d like to thank outgoing chair Sharon Spice for all her hard work over the last 18 months and look forward to continuing efforts to build a more diverse, inclusive and accessible profession.”
Access Accountancy works to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of accessing, and progressing within the accountancy profession based on merit, not background. Since being established in 2014, Access Accountancy has collaborated with over 26 organisations and professional bodies, to help improve access and progression to the accountancy profession. Nearly 5,000 work experience places have been offered to students that meet Access Accountancy’s criteria since 2015.
Hazel has over 30 years’ experience in the accountancy profession and has worked in practice and areas including recruitment, marketing, business development, as well as education and training.
Commenting on her appointment, Hazel Garvey said:
“The work of Access Accountancy is hugely important, so I’m delighted to become its new chair. We’re seeing that employers want to attract students from more diverse backgrounds but are sometimes struggling to recruit enough people to the profession. We want to make accountancy more attractive and accessible, especially given how transferable the skills are. What other qualification gives you the opportunity to work with so many businesses across so many different industries?
“I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to start my accountancy training as a school leaver, so my aim is to encourage more employers to join Access Accountancy and bring more students through the programme.
“I’d like to thank outgoing chair Sharon Spice for all her hard work over the last 18 months and look forward to continuing efforts to build a more diverse, inclusive and accessible profession.”
DEc '22 - Access Accountancy publishes the latest Bridge Group report
Access Accountancy has published its annual report by The Bridge Group which includes an analysis of 700 students who have engaged in work experience at accountancy firms (September 2020 – August 2021), the majority of whom (91%) met Access Accountancy’s eligibility criteria.
Access Accountancy’s focus is to consider the way the accountancy profession attracts a more representative and diverse workforce, including those from a lower socio-economic background, who, overwhelming evidence has found, are less likely to be hired.
This latest Bridge Group report, now in its seventh year, explores the impact of work experience and entry-level hiring on socio-economic diversity within the accountancy profession.
The report found that following work experience placements, awareness of accountancy careers more than doubled to 93 per cent at a time when most work experience placements were virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also finds the percentage of black students/respondents tripled to 24 per cent.
Hazel Garvey, chair, Access Accountancy said:
“I very much welcome the news that the number of candidates who meet Access Accountability’s eligibility criteria has continued to rise since 2018, which means more students from lower socio-economic backgrounds have the chance of undertaking a work placement in the profession. This gives them an insider’s view into working in a professional accountancy environment, and to better understand the boundless career opportunities that exist both now and in the future.”
Access Accountancy’s focus is to consider the way the accountancy profession attracts a more representative and diverse workforce, including those from a lower socio-economic background, who, overwhelming evidence has found, are less likely to be hired.
This latest Bridge Group report, now in its seventh year, explores the impact of work experience and entry-level hiring on socio-economic diversity within the accountancy profession.
The report found that following work experience placements, awareness of accountancy careers more than doubled to 93 per cent at a time when most work experience placements were virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also finds the percentage of black students/respondents tripled to 24 per cent.
Hazel Garvey, chair, Access Accountancy said:
“I very much welcome the news that the number of candidates who meet Access Accountability’s eligibility criteria has continued to rise since 2018, which means more students from lower socio-economic backgrounds have the chance of undertaking a work placement in the profession. This gives them an insider’s view into working in a professional accountancy environment, and to better understand the boundless career opportunities that exist both now and in the future.”
Feb '23 - Access Accountancy shines the spotlight on apprenticeship programmes
During National Apprenticeship Week (6–12 February 2023), we sat down with several apprentices with a variety of backgrounds from Access Accountancy member firms to discuss their career paths, why they chose an apprenticeship, the benefits of work-based learning, and their future ambitions. Many joined work experience programmes, affiliated with Access Accountancy, and learned about alternative routes into their chosen professions.
The apprentices interviewed were Rachel Jackson, tax assistant at BDO; Shannon Rai, tax analyst at Deloitte; Emily Rowley, audit apprentice, and Sean Dyson, securitisation analyst, both at KPMG; Amaan Baig, assurance PQ at EY; Taher Kamari, senior associate at PwC; and Katie Rawlins-Waumsley, audit semi-senior at MHA.
Why did you choose the apprenticeship route?
Many of the apprentices highlighted that attending their firms’ respective work experience programmes was useful in helping them decide. Shannon Rai from Deloitte said that she wouldn’t have considered even applying to Deloitte if she had not been given the opportunity of attending ASPIRE, the firm’s social mobility work experience programme, opening her pathway into accountancy. Emily Rowley from KPMG agreed, saying that doing the Discovery programme allowed her to understand more about what the firm does and the pathways it offered, reassuring her that she didn’t have to go to university to qualify.
Other common themes included the ability to move on from a purely academic environment sooner and gain greater independence by earning a salary at a younger age.
Katie Rawlins-Waumsley from MHA was advised by her college accountancy teacher that an apprenticeship was a much faster path into the profession than the traditional university route and meant that she would be able to start earning much sooner. Rachel Jackson from BDO agreed, adding that she didn’t particularly want to go to university, preferring the idea of gaining experience in the working world while studying for a qualification. Emily came to a similar decision, having always dreamed of a career in accountancy, and concluding that not only did an apprenticeship offer the best balance between study, life, and work, but it would also mean progressing in her career faster and qualifying while gaining relevant real-world experience.
What do you enjoy most about the apprenticeship?
“Being part of a huge business means you can meet people from all walks of life and backgrounds, and also connect on a personal level”, said Amaan Baig from EY, adding that there is something to learn from everyone which means you are constantly being inspired by those around you.
Katie said she enjoyed the social aspect of going through the exams and progression with peers of a similar age. These experiences were echoed by Emily, who said that working with different people and clients had helped develop her soft skills while having a peer group who went through the same process in terms of exams and study commitments provided a good support network. Sean Dyson, also an apprentice at KPMG, added that he enjoyed being able to be financially independent at a relatively young age and to steer his career in the direction of his choice.
Taher Kamari from PwC added; "It’s engaging and challenging but getting to apply theoretical knowledge directly in the workplace was the most favourable part of the experience for me."
What are your future ambitions?
In the short to medium term, the apprentices spoke about their ambitions to complete their final exams and qualify in their respective fields. Emily spoke of her hope to progress within the firm with the goal of one day making it to partner or director.
Similarly, Rachel discussed her desire to specialise in certain areas as she gained more experience and progressed to a more senior position within the firm. Sean also expressed his aim to progress and enable future generations of colleagues by sharing the knowledge and experiences he has gained while completing his apprenticeship.
Find out about the current Access Accountancy work experience opportunities
The apprentices interviewed were Rachel Jackson, tax assistant at BDO; Shannon Rai, tax analyst at Deloitte; Emily Rowley, audit apprentice, and Sean Dyson, securitisation analyst, both at KPMG; Amaan Baig, assurance PQ at EY; Taher Kamari, senior associate at PwC; and Katie Rawlins-Waumsley, audit semi-senior at MHA.
Why did you choose the apprenticeship route?
Many of the apprentices highlighted that attending their firms’ respective work experience programmes was useful in helping them decide. Shannon Rai from Deloitte said that she wouldn’t have considered even applying to Deloitte if she had not been given the opportunity of attending ASPIRE, the firm’s social mobility work experience programme, opening her pathway into accountancy. Emily Rowley from KPMG agreed, saying that doing the Discovery programme allowed her to understand more about what the firm does and the pathways it offered, reassuring her that she didn’t have to go to university to qualify.
Other common themes included the ability to move on from a purely academic environment sooner and gain greater independence by earning a salary at a younger age.
Katie Rawlins-Waumsley from MHA was advised by her college accountancy teacher that an apprenticeship was a much faster path into the profession than the traditional university route and meant that she would be able to start earning much sooner. Rachel Jackson from BDO agreed, adding that she didn’t particularly want to go to university, preferring the idea of gaining experience in the working world while studying for a qualification. Emily came to a similar decision, having always dreamed of a career in accountancy, and concluding that not only did an apprenticeship offer the best balance between study, life, and work, but it would also mean progressing in her career faster and qualifying while gaining relevant real-world experience.
What do you enjoy most about the apprenticeship?
“Being part of a huge business means you can meet people from all walks of life and backgrounds, and also connect on a personal level”, said Amaan Baig from EY, adding that there is something to learn from everyone which means you are constantly being inspired by those around you.
Katie said she enjoyed the social aspect of going through the exams and progression with peers of a similar age. These experiences were echoed by Emily, who said that working with different people and clients had helped develop her soft skills while having a peer group who went through the same process in terms of exams and study commitments provided a good support network. Sean Dyson, also an apprentice at KPMG, added that he enjoyed being able to be financially independent at a relatively young age and to steer his career in the direction of his choice.
Taher Kamari from PwC added; "It’s engaging and challenging but getting to apply theoretical knowledge directly in the workplace was the most favourable part of the experience for me."
What are your future ambitions?
In the short to medium term, the apprentices spoke about their ambitions to complete their final exams and qualify in their respective fields. Emily spoke of her hope to progress within the firm with the goal of one day making it to partner or director.
Similarly, Rachel discussed her desire to specialise in certain areas as she gained more experience and progressed to a more senior position within the firm. Sean also expressed his aim to progress and enable future generations of colleagues by sharing the knowledge and experiences he has gained while completing his apprenticeship.
Find out about the current Access Accountancy work experience opportunities
Aug '23 - Sharron Gunn confirmed as new Access Accountancy chaiR
Social mobility charity Access Accountancy has confirmed ICAEW Chief Operating Officer Sharron Gunn as its new chair. Sharron replaces Hazel Garvey, who left ICAEW at the end of June.
In addition, ICAEW will continue as the Access Accountancy secretariat, working with signatories to drive the charity forward over the next three years.
Access Accountancy works to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of accessing and progressing within accountancy based on merit, not background. Since it was established in 2014, signatories of Access Accountancy have included 25 organisations, incorporating the biggest firms in the sector, to improve access and progression within the profession for those from low socio-economic backgrounds. More than 5,000 work experience places have been offered to students that meet Access Accountancy’s criteria since 2015.
Sharron Gunn said:
“It is a real privilege to become chair of Access Accountancy, working alongside our signatories from accountancy and beyond to open the profession up to benefit young people and society.
“Giving young people from diverse backgrounds the chance to access a broad range of business opportunities is vital, so I am pleased that ICAEW will continue as Access Accountancy’s chair and secretariat.
“I’d like to thank Hazel Garvey for all her hard work during the past year as we continue to build a fairer and more inclusive profession.”
Sharron qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989 and worked at Wates and J Sainsbury plc. She joined ICAEW in 2001 and has driven a wide range of new member support services and commercial activities, including the transformation of ICAEW’s member facilities at Chartered Accountants’ Hall. Sharron is the ICAEW board member responsible for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, and developed ICAEW’s Women in Leadership programme, and leads ICAEW’s Women in Finance network, which supports and connects female Chartered Accountants.
In addition, ICAEW will continue as the Access Accountancy secretariat, working with signatories to drive the charity forward over the next three years.
Access Accountancy works to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of accessing and progressing within accountancy based on merit, not background. Since it was established in 2014, signatories of Access Accountancy have included 25 organisations, incorporating the biggest firms in the sector, to improve access and progression within the profession for those from low socio-economic backgrounds. More than 5,000 work experience places have been offered to students that meet Access Accountancy’s criteria since 2015.
Sharron Gunn said:
“It is a real privilege to become chair of Access Accountancy, working alongside our signatories from accountancy and beyond to open the profession up to benefit young people and society.
“Giving young people from diverse backgrounds the chance to access a broad range of business opportunities is vital, so I am pleased that ICAEW will continue as Access Accountancy’s chair and secretariat.
“I’d like to thank Hazel Garvey for all her hard work during the past year as we continue to build a fairer and more inclusive profession.”
Sharron qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989 and worked at Wates and J Sainsbury plc. She joined ICAEW in 2001 and has driven a wide range of new member support services and commercial activities, including the transformation of ICAEW’s member facilities at Chartered Accountants’ Hall. Sharron is the ICAEW board member responsible for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, and developed ICAEW’s Women in Leadership programme, and leads ICAEW’s Women in Finance network, which supports and connects female Chartered Accountants.