Small Employer Of The Year Award Winner

Elliot Hobden and Nicky Goringe Larkin receive their award from Whitbread’s Sandra Kelly

Earlier this month Goringe Accountants Founder and Director, Nicky Goringe Larkin and her two apprentices attended the regional final of the Apprenticeship Awards at the Hilton in Swindon.

Having submitted the application for the Small Employer of the Year back in March, Nicky and her team were recently informed that they were one of 19 finalists in the category.

Elliot Hobden (3-year accountancy apprentice) and Lauren Gardner (1-year business administration apprentice) accompanied Nicky to the awards ceremony; they were all delighted when Sandra Kelly from Whitbread announced they’d won.

Nicky comments:

We were thrilled to be recognised in this way. Training the next generation of accountants is very important to us. Investing in our apprentices is in line with our overall business strategy: to support growing businesses and grow with them. Our apprentices have the opportunity to grow with us and our clients.

One of our senior account managers qualified through the Association of Accounting Technicians training route, so we know how well apprenticeships can work. We looked into hiring new graduates, but we found that new apprentices were just as intelligent and keen, so our new strategy is to hire apprentices.

Lydia Feasey, the Advanced Apprentice winner from 2013, spoke about what’s happened since she won and where her apprenticeship has taken her. Lauren comments:

It was great to see a young woman up there. Seeing her talk about winning last year and her career taking off has inspired me to go for an individual award next year.

Elliot, who is about to graduate from his apprenticeship will be hired by Goringe Accountants as a junior account manager, when he’ll start studying for his Chartered Institute of Management Accountants exams.

I’m really glad I took the apprenticeship route. It’s great to be within an experienced team while I’m getting my qualifications. The Award Ceremony was a fitting end to a brilliant two years.

Goringe Accountants is a growing practice with multiple career opportunities available. Nicky’s aim is to hire apprentices in the long term (subject to certain criteria), which—as well as investing in future talent—will save time and money on recruitment.

Nicky continues:

We plan to reap the benefits of our investment as we’re ‘home growing’ staff who will already be versed in the ‘Goringe Accountants Way’! We’re over two years into our first apprenticeship and the whole experience has exceeded expectations. They’re very quick learners and it didn’t take long for them to become an integral part of our business.

Winning this award is the icing on the cake—and we hope it will help us attract more high calibre apprentices in the future.

Since the launch of Goringe Accountants in 2007, the practice has focussed on exemplary service and customer contact to build its client base.

Goringe Accountants specialises in providing growing business accountancy and auditing services. The practice helps its clients achieve their business goals by providing them with professional advice based upon real company experience—especially from founder and managing director, Nicky Goringe Larkin, who specialises in business planning and company financing.

By recruiting highly qualified and experienced staff, the practice has a client base of 500+ businesses in every sector—from start ups to small groups of limited companies.