A chat with one of our Partners at the University of Derby graduation awards ceremony in 2019 and today Nathan is a qualified accountant and Assistant Relationship Manager at Bates Weston.
Initial steps
Nathan has always enjoyed working with numbers and knew from sixth form that accountancy was for him. Staying local, he chose the University of Derby to study for a BA in Accounting and Finance. Bates Weston have sponsored the best performance award on that degree course for many years and this is how we came to meet Nathan in person, at his Graduation ceremony.
Partner, Kay Brookes congratulated Nathan on winning the award and offered him the opportunity to get to know the firm and its training programme, as an alternative to his initial plans.
He took up the offer, applied to our training programme and joined us in Sept 2019.
Highlights & Challenges
Early challenges, included the Covid Pandemic, hitting just 6 months into the graduate training programme. Our graduates were briefly furloughed, before taking up their studies again remotely.
Nathan admits:
“It was a steep learning curve, adapting to remote learning, communicating via MS Teams, and undertaking remote audit work.”
Nathan is a firm fan of working in the office environment rather than at home. He feels it is a better place to be, a place where you are able to learn alongside peers and colleagues and that fosters collaboration.
A motivated Nathan was exam qualified in 2022, fully qualified in April 2023 and promoted to Assistant Manager in December of the same year. This achievement is a standout highlight to date.
“Looking back over those 4 years, overcoming the challenges of studying, remote studying and working, successfully qualifying and being promoted – that gives me a real sense of achievement.”
Day to Day
Nathan’s day to day role as an Assistant Manager involves him in both accounts and audit for a wide variety of clients. Jobs vary in their complexity and across industries. He particularly enjoys following up on actions post client meetings, and the greater level of interaction he now has with clients.
“The firm and our clients have faith and trust in me, and I am enjoying taking on that responsibility.”
Nathan is also on our Social Committee which creates opportunities for our eighty strong staff to mingle and have fun. Nathan finds helping to organise successful events that people enjoy, satisfying.
And finally…
When asked about the qualities needed to become a successful accountant, Nathan answers:
“You need to enjoy problem solving, be adaptable and personable. You need to accept that it will be challenging – you’re always going to come across things you’re not going to know, but that’s where you need an inquisitive mind set – you have to want to learn more so you can solve the problem.”
