Three of our graduate trainees share their experience of starting a career at Randall & Payne accountants in Cheltenham, be it rotating between departments or specialising from day one.
Josh studied Accounting & Finance at Cardiff University and joined in 2014 as a graduate trainee to gain valuable practical experience to add to this technical knowledge. 
Josh has rotated around different services including tax, accounts, audit and business advisory. He explained how this wide range of knowledge helped his development and steered him in the final direction of audit. Josh says, “It’s the practical experience which has really helped me to develop into a professional”.
“Although I have now settled in audit, the knowledge I gathered during my time in the other departments helped massively with my studies as it provided real life application to the study material which can often seem detached.”
Specialising in audit, Josh gets to work and interact with people from different walks of life due to the diverse client base here at Randall & Payne. This spans from manufacturing and service companies through to Charities and Academies. He recalls, “A particularly enjoyable experience was auditing the school at which I was a pupil as I got to ask the questions which was a nice reversal of roles!”
Chelsea studied Accounting & Finance at Swansea University with a year abroad in Germany. She joined as a graduate trainee in 2016 and has gained valuable experience working in different departments.
Chelsea ‘Googled’ accountants in Cheltenham and found Randall & Payne in the search results. We were exactly what she was looking for – as well as offering full study support. We were big enough to offer the variety of experience in the different areas of accountancy but small enough to allow more exposure within each area.
“When you join you are assigned a ‘buddy’ who shows you how to use the systems and helped me to settle in quickly. There is a real team spirit here at Randall & Payne and with lots of other like-minded trainees, there is a lot of support and also a good social side to working here.”
Chelsea has found it valuable being able to relate real life experiences to her technical knowledge. She has enjoyed seeing different working styles whilst on rotation. She has experienced all aspects of the work we do for larger clients, such as a Gloucester based manufacturer for whom she updated audit reports, produced a sector summary and bench marking report in business advisory and has also provided tax advice.
Aimee returned to education having been a stay at home mum for a number of years and studied Accounting & Financial Management at The University of Gloucestershire. She joined the Corporate Finance team as an ACA graduate trainee in 2016.
Aimee has shadowed our Corporate Finance Partner from her first day and has benefitted from regular client interaction. Working on a wide range of projects including company sales, acquisitions and valuations, Aimee has thrived seeing the process of each transaction from beginning to end.
She says “I have been very fortunate to work in such a specialist area of accounting at such an early stage of my training. Working in Corporate Finance has enabled me to gain valuable knowledge, skills and experience. I have learnt so much about how incredibly important Corporate Finance is, in helping business owners maximise the value of their business”.
Aimee admits that juggling work and study with three school-aged children is a bit of a balancing act. However, with the support of Randall & Payne, in addition to having a fantastic training provider, she has been able to study at her own pace. Aimee comments “Randall & Payne have been extremely supportive of my training requirements and I am very fortunate to have First Intuition as a training provider who take the time to get to know all of their students as well as providing excellent material, encouragement and support to all their students.”
We are now recruiting for a graduate trainee accountant as part of our 2018 trainee intake and welcome applications from highly motivated individuals with a real interest in business – click here to find out more.
