featured image

We are very lucky here at Shorts to enjoy the many benefits of working with a diverse team, including a large number of apprentices. National Apprenticeships Week is coordinated by the Department for Education, and takes place annually in early February. It provide an opportunity for the education and skills sector to highlight and celebrate the achievements of apprentices everywhere; the positive impact they make to businesses, communities and the wider economy.

We have supported a significant number of apprentices in recent years, studying a variety of qualifications across many of our teams, including Payroll, IT, Corporate Finance, Accounts, Tax and Private Client.  This year the theme is ‘Skills for Life’ and emphasis is placed on encouraging everyone to consider how apprenticeships can help to provide those skills for life.

Apprenticeships have enabled us to adapt our training program to suit not only our needs, but provide our team with the opportunity to learn skills they wouldn't have had access to previously. 

We interviewed some of our apprentices

We talked about

  • Which apprenticeship they have been studying
  • What it was that first appealed to them about choosing the apprenticeship route for their studies,
  • Their greatest challenges
  • The support that is available to them throughout their studies
  • What additional skills have they learned through their learning
  • The types of work they have been given during their apprenticeship
  • What their greatest achievements have been
  • Whether they would recommend apprenticeships to others
  • And we finally asked them to provide one word which they felt best describes apprenticeships – and they all independently gave exactly the same response!


 

Who did we talk to?

For National Apprenticeships Week 2024, we spoke to four members of our team (three current apprentices and one recently having completed) to learn more about their experience whilst studying.

  • Helena Flatters - Audit and Accounts Senior (who completed her studies in late 2023)
  • Connor Marshall – Corporate Finance Executive (currently studying)
  • Justina Bhandal – Accounts Semi-Senior (currently studying)
  • Jake Furniss - Audit and Accounts Assistant (currently studying)

Read more about how we support our team through training and development in our Working at Shorts pages.

author

Jo Grant

Jo is the Senior Marketing Manager at Shorts Chartered Accountants.

View my articles