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Northern Chartered Accountant Students' Society

Supporting northern ACA students

Aspiring accountants from King Edward VI School win Newcastle BASE competition 6 March 2014

Students from King Edward VI School, Morpeth beat off competition from nine other local teams to win the Newcastle heat of the national Business Accounting Skills Education (BASE) competition.

The first of two Newcastle heats took place at Newcastle University, Business School on Tuesday 4 March. This was one of 47 heats attracting over 3,300 students in more than 590 competing teams nationwide.

BASE links schools, students and employers together in a bid to not only increase awareness of a career in chartered accountancy and finance, but also helps to develop key employability skills in the future workforce.

Assuming the role of ICAEW Chartered Accountants, the students had just less than 2 hours to analyse, discuss and decide on the next business steps of a fictional organisation before presenting their ideas to a panel of business professionals.

The BASE competition was supported by local firms including Bell Anderson Accountants, PwC, TSG,  National Audit Office, Tait Walker, Ryecroft Glenton and UNW LLP who provided professional mentors and judges. In addition students and teachers were given the chance to hear first hand accounts about the range of career options chartered accountancy can provide.  

Keith Proudfoot, ICAEW Regional Director Northern & Scotland, said: “The calibre of entrants at our BASE heat at Newcastle University was, once again, very impressive and I expect I’ll be seeing more of these young people in leading roles in the future. These young business advisers are looking beyond the numbers and adding their social and ethical acumen to give rounded advice. Being a chartered accountant is not just adding up numbers, it’s communicating what those numbers mean to business”

Nick Lambert, Head Judge, mentor Hayley Lewis and the winning team from King Edward VI School

Nick Lambert, Head Judge, mentor Hayley Lewis from NAO and the winning team from King Edward VI School

Head Judge Nick Lambert, Financial Director Orchard Systems said: “In the presentations we looked for the ethical and financial data to support the decisions. King Edward VI School showed excellent teamwork and role allocation in delivering a very comprehensive recommendation. All teams can be rightly proud of their achievements in dealing with a very challenging business challenge.”

The mentor of the winning team Hayley Lewis, National Audit Office said “I am delighted that my team were the winners of this heat. I was really impressed with the way they worked together as a team. They delegated specific tasks but stayed focused on the outcome that was required of the group as a whole.”

For further information about BASE and how to participate please visit icaew.com/base

The remaining 2 BASE heats supported by Northern Society will be:

  • 12 March 2014 – Newcastle upon Tyne (Northumbria University)
  • 19 March 2014 – Middlesbrough (Teesside University)

The Northern Society of Chartered Accountants (NorSCA) represents ICAEW members working in business and the finance profession across the North East of England, Teesside and Cumbria. We have been assisting businesses in the north of England and producing chartered accountants for over 130 years.

 

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