As a Trainee Bookkeeper at Elver Consultancy, Andrew Humphreys enjoys a varied and fast paced role after completing St Helens Chamber’s Accountancy Study Programme.
Having studied on the programme for 7 months and gained all the skills, experience, and qualifications he needs to start an Accountancy career, Andrew has hit the ground running at Elver Consultancy and has quickly become a valued member of the team.
Andrew commented: “My day-to-day role involves working through clients accounts, reconciling transactions, invoices, bills etc.
“I use lots of different accountancy software day to day to create reports for clients and see whether any transactions are missing and ensure everything runs smoothly for the client.”
Andrew has quickly become a vital member of the team at Elver Consultancy and helps to share the workload of his colleagues. Through his work on the study programme, Andrew was able to hit the ground running and start supporting his employer right away.
Oliver Blackmore, Director at Elver Consultancy, commented: “Having Andrew on board through the study programme has really helped us accelerate our growth and helped us to meet client needs. Andrew has taken on a portfolio of clients who he meets with each month and has really helped ease our workload – so we’re glad to have him here.
“One thing that really differentiated the study programme was that the students have already spent a few months training full time at the Chamber, so they know more about what is expected of them in the workplace. Andrew integrated quickly into the team, thanks to the soft skills he developed while on the study programme – alongside his accountancy training.”
St Helens Chamber’s Study Programme lasts for 7 months and gives students the chance to gain nationally recognised qualifications, alongside work experience on an extended work placement, driving lessons, study trips and a guaranteed interview for a Level 3 Apprenticeship on completion.
Study Programmes are offered in Accountancy and Digital Marketing and helps to fast track young people’s careers into these popular industries.
Andrew added: “The Study Programme helped me gain the required skills for the role and helped me to understand expectations of me in both the workplace and in the finance industry. From the training in the Chamber, to the hands-on experience I received at Elver, I felt I was extremely well prepared to start my career.
“I found the interview and CV sessions were particularly useful as they helped me get my role; but on the whole the training was really interesting, and there was a clear structure, so we knew where we were up to and what we had to do next. On top of this there was extra training like PREVENT and British values which were really helpful.”
Employers choosing to recruit Study Programme students also benefit from the full support of St Helens Chamber, who can take care of everything from matching suitable candidates to arranging interviews and helping with the on-boarding process.
Oliver commented: “I would absolutely recommend taking on a study programme student to other businesses, we’re already signed up to take someone else on in November! Its good from employer perspective as when you’re recruiting a new employee, you’re taking on quite a bit of risk, you don’t know how they’ll perform until a few weeks into their role, but the study programme allowed us to have Andrew on a placement for a few months before hiring – which gave us an opportunity to see whether he was a good fit for the business.
“Overall, the Chamber made the whole recruitment process smooth and easy; Rebecca Hitchen collated all of the CVs for us and arranged interviews all with suitable candidates – so all we had to do was turn up to the interview and everything else was taken care of!”
The next intake for the Accountancy Study Programme is now open, and places are limited for September 2021.
Andrew added: “I would absolutely recommend the Study Programme to anyone; the tutors are always there to help you and push you to be the best you can be and the whole experience has been great.”
To find out more about Study Programmes at St Helens Chamber, call on 01744 742045 or email apprenticeships@sthelenschamber.com
