Top ten accountancy and advisory firm, BDO, has today welcomed 247 new trainees to the business with a further 59 to join them in December.
The firm, which is currently 3,500 people strong, experienced a record high of 10,830 applications this year, which marked a 20% increase on last year.
New BDO trainees will sit in the tax, audit, advisory, and the business services and outsourcing departments and they will be situated in offices around the UK.
As well as studying for the relevant professional accountancy qualification, BDO’s trainees will have the chance to work towards a Level 7 accountancy or taxation professional apprenticeship, in which they will achieve the equivalent of a masters.
Paul Eagland, managing partner at BDO, said:
“Welcoming our new intake of trainees is one of the highlights of the year at BDO. It is fantastic to see so many fresh faces and support the next generation of accountants and advisers.
“We place great emphasis on the personalities, skills and drive of our colleagues rather than focusing on their background or education, so I am proud to announce that BDO is offering an increased number of apprenticeships this year compared to last, as well as more graduate roles.
“As the business landscape changes and technology continues to disrupt the way we work, now more than ever we focus on attracting trainees with commercial acumen and the personal skills required to offer the best service to our clients and to ensure we stand out from the competition.”
With the aim of continuing to attract talented individuals to build a strong future workforce, BDO also offers annual intern and summer school programmes. They hosted 38 A-Level students for the summer school programme and 39 undergraduate students on the internship programme.
Each group spent six weeks experiencing the world of life and finding out what the firm has to offer.
Off the back of this, BDO is currently calling on the UK government to make changes which support and encourage the existence of quality apprenticeships. It would like to see reform of the Oftsed system for schools and colleges as well as tracking the progress of students to higher-level apprenticeships against the numbers of those who have gone to university.