Graduates join Grant Thornton intake

Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has appointed 22 trainees, including graduates, school leavers and placement students, at its offices in the North West.

Degree holders make up the bulk of the new intake to the three-year development programme, which is run in Manchester and Liverpool.

The firm said the number of recruits to the scheme, which offers a traditional route to securing formal accountancy qualifications, has remained steady in recent years.

The programme gives trainees the opportunity to work in each of the different areas in which Grant Thornton specialises: tax, audit and advisory services.

In addition to the intake of new trainees, hundreds of university students have applied to spend 12-month placements with the firm in order to gain early experience of working in accountancy.

David Grundy, Grant Thornton's managing partner for the North West, said: "It is an increasingly difficult market out there for graduate and trainee job hunters. Competition is fierce and those that have been selected will be given the opportunity to develop their skills in a working environment housing some of the most experienced professionals in the industry."