Member Article

Esteemed award win for local accountancy firm

AN established Bishop Auckland accountancy practice is celebrating after winning a prestigious regional award for its ongoing commitment to the training of apprentices.

Mitchells Grievson entered into the National Apprenticeship Awards 2014 earlier this year having been nominated by its training provider, Team Valley-based Access Training. It was successful in winning Small Employer of the Year at the Regional Apprenticeship awards ceremony which took place at the Radisson Hotel, Durham. It will now go on to compete against other regional winners in the national finals based in Birmingham in November.

Co-directors, Andrew Houghton and Nigel Rea, both began their careers as apprentices so understand how effective they can be and instil this within the ethos of the business. Within the 18-strong team, eight started as apprentices and four are currently undertaking an apprenticeship course through Access Training.

Mr Houghton commented: “For over 40 years, we have been recruiting and training apprentices, some of whom have stayed with us and progressed right up to fully qualified accountants, others have moved on, but we’re proud that in every single case we’ve been able to give our youngsters the best possible start to their careers. Our commitment stems from the fact that me and my co-director both began our careers as apprentices so we have first-hand knowledge of the benefits apprenticeships can have.

“To win this regional award given the competition we were up against is a huge achievement for us and is a true reflection of how instrumental apprentices are, and will remain, to our business.

“We have apprentices in all areas of our business from our receptionists to our admin support staff right through to our most senior employees. Most of the current workforce has, in one discipline or another, completed an apprenticeship with us.

“We have worked with Access Training for several years now. All of our staff who has trained with them has had nothing but praise and, of course, if it wasn’t for Access nominating us, we wouldn’t be celebrating now.”

Current accounting apprentice, 20-year-old Adam Hindmarsh, said of the Access Training’s AAT course: “What I love about my apprenticeship is that you don’t have to wait until you qualify to get to work because you’re doing it every single day as you progress through the training programme. In addition, you gain an internationally accredited qualification which prepares you for a life of employment in a subject you’re passionate about. It puts you in the best possible position to progress as far as you want to go.”

Access Training Managing Director Malcolm Armstrong commented: “There are thousands of employers, from SMEs to multi nationals who support apprenticeships in our region, so for Mitchells Grievson to win this award is a tremendous achievement, and well deserved recognition. The team has always shown great support and commitment to their apprentices and it’s a pleasure to work with such a forward-thinking company.”

The National Apprenticeship Award Winners will be announced at a celebratory event on the 13 November 2014.

Access Training is an award-winning training provider with offices in Gateshead and Durham. It has been delivering training programmes for businesses and individuals across the North East for 30 years.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jodie Balmer .