Tuesday 17th February, 2015

Eighteen AAT Accountancy apprentices from across Greater Manchester area were honoured at a recent awards ceremony event in Stockport after completing their qualifications. The event, hosted by Damar Training marked the students’ graduation from the Higher Apprenticeships in Accountancy.

The students, who are now qualified AAT Accounting Technicians, all completed the four-year programme while in full-time jobs at firms of accountants and in-house finance teams.

The majority of apprentices were placed in their roles through Damar – a specialist provider of apprenticeship recruitment and training, during the programme they received one-to-one support in the workplace via regular visits from their trainers and attended seminars.

Manchester has the biggest financial and professional services (FPS) sector outside London, with particular strengths in relation to legal, accountancy, back office administration and real estate activities. According to recent statistics, FPS firms are very positive about the value of apprenticeships – 89 per cent of businesses see apprenticeships as suited to the sector, compared to 84 per cent of businesses across all markets. 

Narendra Mistry, partner at HURST Accountants, spoke at the event to mark the success of the firm’s first accountancy apprentice Chris Kinsey.

He said: "We have really benefited from the experience, so much so that we are currently recruiting a second apprentice through Damar. The process is very straightforward. In particular, there is no restriction on when apprentices start and plenty of flexibility to ensure that the training doesn’t get in the way of the day-to-day running of our business"