ICAEW poaching plan has failed, claim rivals
The ICAEW has lost more members than it has gained, despite a high profile project to poach senior members of other institutes, its rivals have claimed
A year on from the launch of the controversial plan to poach
ACCA and CIMA members, known as
Pathways, no headway had been made by the institute.
Last week, the ICAEW took out a full-page advertisement in Accountancy
Age saying that 65 members from
ACCA,
CIMA
and CIPFA, with over five
years’ experience, who had passed an entrance paper, had joined the institute.
CIMA chief executive Charles Tilley this week claimed that few members had
joined the ICAEW, with
more heading to his institute than vice-versa.
‘The initiative is, from our perspective, a very small number of people. In
fact, the number of people coming through the other way is greater,’ said
Tilley.
Tilley also questioned the rigour of the scheme, which involves only one
paper. ‘It is not underpinned by conventional training,’ he said.
ACCA chief executive Allen Blewitt described the 65 as a ‘mediocre result’.
‘Maybe, as it’s a relatively unimpressive result, they’ll see it as a waste
of time,’ said Blewitt. ‘I’ll be surprised if there are any FTSE 250
representatives in their figures.’
More than 50 members joined ACCA from other institutes during the year,
including 21 from the ICAEW.
Dr Raymond Madden, ICAEW learning and professional development director,
welcomed the new members, saying that the institute was intended for high
calibre professionals and was ‘delighted’ by the quality of individuals who
joined.
‘They believe they will be able to benefit from the range of technical
representation, advice and support that the institute has to offer,’ said
Madden.
The launch of the scheme last year triggered an angry row between the leading
institutes.