Northern Society of Chartered Accountants

Cumbrian students through to ICAEW BASE national business final 25 February 2016

Carlisle College – winners of Cumbria heat of ICAEW BASE 2016 with head judges Jeanette Brown and Andrew Jackson (both past presidents of Northern Society of Chartered Accountants)

Students from Carlisle College demonstrated their business acumen and beat off competition from eight other local teams to win the Carlisle heat of ICAEW’s national business and accounting competition, BASE on 24 February.

Carlisle College impressed the judges and will go on to represent Cumbria at the national final which takes place at in Birmingham in June. This was one of 49 heats attracting over 3,000 students around the country.

BASE links schools, students and employers to develop employability skills and provide an insight into what a career in accountancy, business and finance might be like. Assuming the role of ICAEW Chartered Accountants, the students had two hours to analyse a business situation, before presenting their ideas to a panel of top business professionals.

Keith Proudfoot, ICAEW Regional Director Northern & Scotland, said: “We were really impressed with the team’s collaboration and strategic thinking. These budding business advisers demonstrated looking beyond the numbers, showing that they had an excellent instinct for business and ethics in order to give well-rounded advice. I expect I’ll be seeing more of these young people in leading roles in the future.”

One of the head judges Jeanette Brown, Partner with Dodd & Co and past President of Northern Society of Chartered Accountants (NorSCA) said: “In the final presentations we looked for the ethical and financial rationale that supported the decisions made by the students. Carlisle College showed excellent teamwork and role allocation in delivering a very comprehensive recommendation. The team from Carlisle College were the runners up and all the Cumbrian teams can be rightly proud of their achievements in dealing with a very challenging business challenge.”

Emma Edwards, Business Lecturer at Carlisle College said: “I am extremely proud of the Carlisle College team and delighted with their achievement. The team have worked really hard and demonstrated a high degree of teamwork and communication skills throughout. A well-deserved win and we know look forward to representing Cumbria at the national final.”

The BASE competition attracted school teams from across Cumbria and was supported by local firms including Armstrong Watson, Cumberland Building Society, David Allen, Dodd & Co, National Audit Office, Saint & Co and Sealy UK who provided professional mentors and judges.

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

Northern Society of Chartered Accountants (NorSCA) represents 4,000 ICAEW members and ACA students working in business and the finance profession across the North East of England, Teesside, Northern Yorkshire and Cumbria. We have been assisting businesses in the north of England and producing chartered accountants for over 130 years.